2 taxi aides for the state

A former state taxicab supervisor and a state inspector charged with taking thousands of dollars in bribes to look the other way during taxi inspections will plead guilty in federal court today.

Edwin Mobley, the supervisor, and John E. Jones, the inspector, extorted cash payoffs from taxi operators of $7,700 and $1,275, respectively, from 1995 to 2002, the feds charged.

Three co-defendants - Sant R. Harrison, Leroy Patterson and Donald Russell - are set to go on trial Monday on racketeering and extortion charges.

The men worked for the Public Utility Commission's motor carrier division and were charged in a 63-count indictment in 2005 with performing incomplete inspections, canceling fines and certifying untested drivers in exchange for cash payoffs.

The Legislature transferred enforcement of city taxi regulations to the Philadelphia Parking Authority in 2005.

Harrison and Patterson are ex-city cops. The feds said Patterson took more than $50,000 from 1998 to 2002 from Michael Etemad, one of the city's largest taxicab operators.

Etemad, who copped a plea in 2005 to mail-fraud conspiracy in connection with submitting bogus loan applications to a bank, is expected to be the government's star witness at trial.

In 2002, Etemad cooperated with the FBI and made audio and video recordings of his payments to the defendants.

Mobley was a supervisor who assigned officers to inspect cabs, and Jones inspected cabs and wrote tickets for violations.

The feds said Etemad paid Mobley every three months from the late 1990s to 2002 - usually with cash in an envelope - to make sure his taxis were inspected without too many violations.

Two owners paid Jones $50 per taxi at inspection time between 1999 and 2004. Etemad also paid cash to Jones - often by handshake - to avoid violations and make the inspection process smoother, according to the plea agreement.

Jones and Mobley are not cooperating with the feds and won't testify against their former colleagues.

As part of their plea agreements, the feds dropped racketeering charges against Jones and Mobley.

"The deal that was offered by the government was in my client's best interest," said Luther E. Weaver III, Jones' attorney. "We'll fight at sentencing for what we believe is a fair sentence."

Mobley's attorney, Brian J. McMonagle, could not be reached for comment. *