Former Fine Gael councillor Fred Forsey (43) has been sentenced to six years in prison for corruption, with the final two years suspended.
Forsey was convicted at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court on May 18th on six counts of accepting corrupt payments from a developer on three separate dates in 2006.
Judge Gerard Griffin told the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin this afternoon he classed the offences at the upper to mid range of the scale.
The maximum sentence that could have been imposed was 10 years and/or a fine.
Judge Griffin rejected a request from Forsey’s senior counsel John Phelan to delay sentencing, saying he could “see no good reason why sentencing should be postponed”.
Forsey had been remanded on continuing bail after his sentencing was adjourned last month due to a family bereavement among a member of his legal team.
Forsey had previously denied corruptly accepting sums of €60,000, €10,000 and €10,000 as inducements or rewards while a member of Dungarvan Town Council to make representations to officials and members of Waterford County Council in support of a proposed development which was the subject of a planning application.
He had also denied three further charges of corruptly accepting the same sums of €60,000, €10,000 and €10,000 as inducements or rewards while a member of Dungarvan Town Council and speaking at a meeting of Dungarvan Town Council in support of a proposed development which was the subject of a planning application.
The judge said the offences would not have come to light had it not been for the "civil mindedness" of Forsey's ex-wife Jenny. He commended her bravery in giving evidence and reporting the matter to her local TD John Deasy.
He also quoted at some length from the Mahon Tribunal report. Forsey had "gravely breached the trust" of the electorate in Dungarvan and had tried to "cover his tracks" by entering into a back-dated loan.
The judge also said the offences had been committed at the height of the Celtic Tiger when property prices had reached an all-time high and an orgy of speculation had driven an unsustainable bubble.
Forsey's partner Karen Morrissey wept openly in court when the sentence was announced.
Giving evidence earlier, Forsey said he did not accept the verdict of the jury and insisted money he had been given was a loan.
He was questioned by Mr Phelan and the prosecution counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley. Under questioning from the prosecution counsel, Forsey said: “No I don’t accept it” and “No, I know it was a loan”.
He was also questioned about a new business venture he said he was involved in, called Big Bro Software. He described it as a GPS device that was fitted in cars and could alert insurance companies if speed limits were broken or driving in a “harsh manner” took place.
It also had a facility to allow emergency services to be sent out in the event of a crash, he said.
Two UK-based business associates travelled to gave evidence about Forsey’s importance to the operation. Craig Roche said he was the financial director and Steve Phillips described himself as the chief executive officer of the company.
Mr Roche described Forsey as the “lynchpin” of the venture, while Mr Philips said it was highly unlikely the venture would be successful without Forsey’s involvement. When the prosecution counsel asked Mr Philips why the company was not paying Forsey a “ha’penny”, Mr Philips said they company was not in a position to do so.
Earlier the court heard from Det Insp Shay Keevans, who arrested Forsey in July 2009, when he returned to Ireland after leaving the country for Australia in June 2007. The court heard Forsey was married with three children, but separated since 2006.
He was a driving instructor and Dungarvan town councillor with no previous convictions, who came from a very respectable family in Dungarvan and had never come to the attention of gardaí before.
