Former FBI agent, DC real estate developer sentenced on bribery and conspiracy charges

A former FBI agent and a Washington, D.C., real estate developer were sentenced to years in prison after being convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges. 

Former FBI agent David Paitsel, 42, and D.C. real estate developer Brian Bailey, 53, were sentenced Wednesday “for their role in schemes involving confidential information held by the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development,” according to an announcement from the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office.

The office said there were two parts to the scheme Paitsel and Bailey led. Bailey was found guilty of bribing a program specialist at the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development to “in exchange for confidential, unredacted Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) offer of sale notices.” These notices are not given out to the public and contain information such as the names of tenants residing at a property. 

According to the office, the TOPA “provides tenants living in the District of Columbia with the right to purchase their residence should the owner decide to sell the property.” Tenants are also able to reassign their purchasing rights to a third party under this law. 

The program specialist, Dawne Dorsey, pled guilty to bribery in June 2019 for her role in the scheme, the office noted. Dorsey will be sentenced next month. 

The second part of the scheme resulted in both Paitsel and Bailey being found guilty on one count of bribery and one count of conspiracy. Bailey paid Paitsel in bribes to get the contact information for the tenants that held TOPA rights, the office said. Paitsel was able to pass along the information using a database he had access to at the FBI. 

Paitsel was sentenced to two years in prison followed by two years of supervised release, as well as a $100 special assessment and a $10,600 forfeiture money judgment. Bailey was sentenced to four years in prison followed by two years of supervised release, as well as a $100 special assessment and a $250,000 fine. 

Tags D.C. FBI Washington

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed..

 

Main Area Top ↴

Testing Homepage Widget

 

Main Area Middle ↴
Main Area Bottom ↴

Most Popular

Load more

Video

See all Video