Former Memorial hospital vendor sentenced in home remodeling bribery scheme

A former vendor who pleaded guilty to taking part in a kickback scheme by performing home improvements for former staffers at the Memorial Healthcare System was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison on Tuesday.

Joseph Badalich, 67, of Hollywood admitted that he tacked on an extra $70,000 to a bill for remodeling the interior of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at the taxpayer-assisted Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood. The money was in exchange for insider help in getting awarded lucrative contracts, prosecutors said.

Badalich used the money to pay for marble floors installed at the Lake Worth home of hospital maintenance manager, Eliot Gordon. Badalich also converted a garage into a game room for another maintenance manager, Anthony Merola, who also lived in Lake Worth. Gordon and Merola are both serving federal prison terms for related crimes.

Badalich, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe an agent of an organization receiving federal funds, has to turn himself in to begin serving his prison sentence on April 9. He was also ordered to pay $457,274 in restitution during the sentencing in federal court in Miami. He had faced up to five years in prison but agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testified at trial against other members of the conspiracy, according to court records.

pmcmahon@tribune.com, 954-356-4533 or Twitter @SentinelPaula

Original post:
Former Memorial hospital vendor sentenced in home remodeling bribery scheme