Two former New York City employees have been sentenced in a scheme to arrange city funding and permits for day care centers.
Aurora Villareal was sentenced Friday in federal court in Manhattan to four years in prison. Her co-defendant, Leonid Gutnik, got a 40-month prison sentence. Both pleaded guilty in February to mail fraud and honest services fraud conspiracy.
The two are accused of collecting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes. They were arrested in August 2010 following a Department of Investigation probe and were indicted in federal court in January.
Gutnik worked with the Human Resources Administration and was fired in 2010. Villareal was employed with the city's health department since 1985 and was an early childhood education consultant when the investigation was launched.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
