Ex-Phila. official, lawyer charged in ticket-fixing

[Freddie Stubbs]

A cab-firm owner also was indicted in alleged scheme to dismiss parking tickets.

By Joseph A. Slobodzian and Emilie Lounsberry

Inquirer Staff Writers


The former manager of the city's parking-ticket appeals office and a Center City lawyer were indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on charges that they participated in a ticket-fixing scheme that benefitted politicians and businesspeople while costing the city "hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Joseph F. Hoffman Jr., 48, who had been manager and a hearing examiner in the city's Bureau of Administrative Adjudication, was accused of taking thousands of dollars in cash, free meals, and liquor to erase hundreds of tickets.

Charged with Hoffman in the nine-count indictment was veteran defense lawyer Charles P. Mirarchi 3d. The indictment alleged that Mirarchi, 53, accepted payoffs as Hoffman's "bagman" and helped make the ticket-fixing look legitimate by entering an appearance as the ticket recipients' lawyer.

At a news conference, U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan said that while the case exposes a problem that has "likely existed in secrecy for years," the conduct "strikes at the heart of the public's confidence in public officials."

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