A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced two men who pleaded guilty to bribing the former Broward County traffic director.
U.S. District Judge James Cohn sentenced Anthoneel Allen, 40, to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $15,000 fine, and ordered a $3 million forfeiture judgment.
The judge sentenced co-conspirator James Hashim, 50, to three years in prison, three years of supervised release, and also ordered a $3 million forfeiture judgment.
Allen and Hashim were accused of paying bribes to Jihad El Eid, who was the Director of Traffic Engineering in the Division of Public Works in Broward County.
"They got him a car, they got him a job for a relative of his. In exchange, they got approximately $26 million in contracts that gave them a profit of approximately $6.5 million," said prosecutor Jeffery Kaplan.
Investigators believe El Eid fled the country after he was fired. The FBI believe he may be in his native Lebanon.
"He's a fugitive currently," said Kaplan. "He was aware of the investigation, that I can say."
"Are you confident that he will be captured in the end?" asked Local 10's Bob Norman.
"Obviously, the FBI is out actively looking for him, so we're hoping he'll be captured in the near future," replied Kaplan.
The two men are scheduled to begin their prison terms June 7.