Co-Defendant of Fenton Man Sentenced on Corruption Charges

Russell Todd, 69, of Chesterfield, was sentenced to 15 months in prison Monday for accepting illegal gratuities from government contractors while the director of projects for the VA Medical Center in St. Louis between 2007 and 2010. Todd appeared for sentencing before Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office.          

Todd admitted with a plea in March, to accepting approximately $20,000 in luxury baseball tickets, meals and entertainment and a local gentlemen's club from Joseph Madlinger and Michael Woodling, of Fenton, while he was steering $3.4 million dollars in work at the VA to their company. 

Woodling and Madlinger pled guilty to making the illegal payment to Todd and to defrauding the VA by setting up a front company, purportedly owned and operated by a service disabled veteran for the purpose of securing set aside contracting work for businesses owed by service disabled veterans.               Co-defendants Woodling, 53, of Fenton, and Madlinger, 71, of Dupo, IL, pled guilty in February to one felony count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud involving the payment of gratuities to a federal official.  Madlinger was sentenced to 24 months in prison, and a $50,000 fine.  His amount of restitution will be determined at a later date.  Woodling was sentenced to three years of probation, a $60,000 fine and ordered to pay restitution of $1.5 million.

The case was investigated by the Offices of Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the General Services Administration and the Small Business Administration.  Assistant United States Attorney Tom Albus handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.