A Bronx man was sentenced in federal court to 18 months in prison for soliciting and accepting bribes from contractors at the NYCHA buildings where he worked as superintendent, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced May 6.
Hector Colon, 47, worked at three Manhattan NYCHA properties between 2018 and 2022 and was accused of soliciting approximately $30,000 in bribes from contractors for repair work contracts and approvals.
“Hector Colon abused his position at NYCHA to demand bribes from contractors for his personal gain. The women and men of this Office are committed to pursuing those who abuse the public’s trust,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in a statement.
Colon allegedly took bribes from relatively small repair contracts where the building’s super is allowed to hire outside contractors directly, instead of going through the usual competitive bidding process. Colon typically sought 10% of the contract value for each project, for work totaling approximately $400,000.
Dozens of other NYCHA employees have been accused of similar crimes. On Feb. 6, 2024, 70 NYCHA employees were arrested on bribery and extortion charges, the largest single-day number of federal bribery charges in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Sixty-two of the employees have since pled guilty, five still have cases pending and Colon was one of three who were convicted upon trial.
In addition to his prison sentence, he was ordered to forfeit $30,000 and pay $30,000 in restitution, according to SDNY.
The federal government is a major funder of NYCHA, which receives $1.5 billion per year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
