Chester Housing Authority executives sentenced to prison terms

PHILADELPHIA — Two South Jersey men have received prison terms for their role in bribery and fraud schemes.

Norman D. Wise, 58, of Mullica Hill and Leonard F. Coleman, 54, of Paulsboro were accused of cheating a municipal housing authority in Chester, Pa.

A Philadelphia man, 65-year-old Douglas E. Daniel, also played a role and was sentenced, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia.

Authorities said Wise, executive director of the Chester Housing Authority, and Daniel, his chief assistant, created a contracting firm that fraudulently billed their employer for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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The scheme took place from January 2019 through January 2023, according to the federal prosecutor's office.

Coleman, a contractor, separately paid Wise and Daniel $76,000 in exchange for CHA business valued at $2.5 million, the federal prosecutor’s office said.

The bribery scheme operated from July 2014 to March 2022, it said.

“These defendants lined their pockets at the expense of an agency tasked with the critically important mission of providing affordable housing — an agency dealing with already-limited resources,” said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero.

“They not only compromised CHA’s efficacy and reputation out of sheer greed, they betrayed the public’s trust," she said.

The Chester authority operates 12 public-housing sites with about 800 homes, according to a court record.

Wise was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison on May 13. Daniel received a term one day later of 13 months and one day.

Each was ordered to pay restitution of almost $545,000.

Coleman was ordered on May 14 to spend a week in prison and to pay restitution of about $68,500.

Wise and Daniels admitted guilt in September 2023 to wire fraud and theft from an organization receiving federal funds.

Coleman pleaded guilty to a bribery charge one month later.

All were sentenced in Philadelphia federal court by U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Norman Wise and Douglas Daniel admitted guilt to fraud and theft charges