St. Louis County employee sentenced in bribery scandal

ST. LOUIS -- A former St. Louis County employee who worked as a supervisor of taxicab "starters" at Lambert Airport was placed on probation for two years and fined $500 for taking bribes from a taxi company, U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender said Friday.

John Hill, 85, of Hazelwood, was the fourth person sentenced in connection with the airport taxi bribery case.

The others included former county Councilman Robert A. Young IV, who pleaded guilty in January to taking a $4,500 bribe from Lambert Airport Transportation Co. Young resigned his council seat before his plea. He was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $5,000.

Hill pleaded guilty in April to one count of making false statements to federal agents. He admitted receiving cash from the taxi company and lying about it to special agents of the FBI.

Prosecutors said Young took money from Michael Saggio, manager of the taxi company. Saggio and another person, who is deceased and was not named, gave the money to Young from 1997 to 2001 to get the county to grant additional licenses to Saggio's company while stifling other competition, prosecutors said.