A former senior manager for United Airlines at its Newark Liberty hub in New Jersey has pleaded guilty to receiving bribes and kickbacks totaling around $1.6 million over eight years to help secure lucrative contracts for a company that provides aviation services at the airport.
Edward Dolphin, 65, of Tomball, Texas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud following a lengthy investigation into corruption at the Chicago-based airline. Dolphin faces the threat of being sent to prison for up to 20 years.
According to a criminal complaint filed in a New Jersey district court, Dolphin worked as a senior manager responsible for awarding contracts to vendors supplying United Airlines with various services at Newark Liberty Airport.
Dolphin is believed to have first started receiving kickbacks from a company that supplies services to airlines operating out of Newark back in 2014 when United Airlines was in need of a larger employee parking lot.
In exchange for a portion of the commission that would be earned from leasing out land for the parking lot, Dolphin allegedly convinced United Airlines to enter into a contract with the real estate company that would be providing the land.
From then on, Dolphin received a monthly payment from the company that provided aviation services at Newark Liberty. The monthly payment was in exchange for Dolphin securing additional work for the company from United Airliens and lasted eight years.
By the end of 2022, those payments had ballooned to $31,500 per month, with the company now providing services connected to United’s mail room, employee lounge, baggage security, and equipment room.
Dolphin then became involved with another corrupt company, sharing information about rival bids for a bussing contract that United was looking to award, ensuring that the company could submit the lowest bid.
For his part in helping the company win the bussing contract, Dolphin allegedly received $70,000 in kickbacks.
Dolphin then started to help two other companies win contracts for United at Newark Liberty in exchange for significant bribes. The first was for a snow removal contract, while the second was for airplane cleaning services.
Prosecutors believe that Dolphin received more than half a million dollars to help these two companies win the contracts.
“The schemes conceived and executed by these individuals to defraud the airline operating out of Newark Airport are reprehensible,” commented Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly following the guilty pleas.
“The individuals who benefited with monetary and other high-value gain are being held responsible for the bribery and corruption they had hoped would fly under the radar,” Reilly continued.
Dolphin is scheduled to be sentenced on June 24. Two other defendants are scheduled to be sentenced in June and July 2025, respectively.
$200 K a year..!
By NJ standards he sold out cheep.
The Bent nose types I have dealt with in New Jersey are in the Hunter / Biden crime family neighborhood, MILLIONS
Still searching for something in a pile of nothing; meanwhile there is a felon in the White House getting his instructions from Moscow.
You are mistaken, crackheads our out of the White House, we’re good now.
So you’re happy with the illegal cartels, pedophils, drug and sex traffickers? Not happy with a Rare Earth contract with Ukraine and getting the parties to have dialogue on a war that Sleepy Joe couldn’t stop?
Majority of Americans know those lawsuits were politically motivated while the Biden crime family goes free.
Ummm!pile of nothing! Right! Justice will be served June 24th!
And you voted for a convicted felon/sexual predator, insurrectionist mastermind and just the worst leader who sold his sole to Sputin!! Your comment is pure trash.
They’re forgetting that this Dolphin individual was responsible for firing good, honorable people under his charge—people who simply wanted to do their jobs and provide for their families. Now, karma is coming for him because he played with the livelihoods of those workers and their children. One manager, who had a special-needs child, was left without health insurance, while others were cheated out of their pensions.
Bad guy! Karma always comes around, and his day has finally arrived.
How did they find out?
I
This Dolphin guy should have known that only Supreme Court justices can swing those kind of kickbacks and get away with it.
And we have a president selling his own c
Cryptocurrency for pardons and favors