30 months for bribing Phila. Council aide

One of the most prolific commercial landlords in Northeast Philadelphia was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for bribing a City Council aide to help fulfill his development ambitions in Center City.

Ravinder Chawla also was fined $25,000 for his conviction in February of conspiracy to corrupt ex-Council aide Christopher Wright.

Chawla, whose friends testified to his generosity and integrity as he rose from a young exile to a successful businessman, apologized to U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno in an emotional 10-minute speech.

"Your honor, I'm a family man and would not consider hurting a fly," said Chawla, of Abington.

"I should not have provided any benefits to someone who worked for the government," he said.

Wright, former chief of staff to Republican Councilman Jack Kelly, was also convicted at the trial in District Court for accepting a free apartment and free parking from Chawla while doing Chawla's bidding in City Hall. Chawla has contended that he did not seek to bribe Wright and received nothing special in return.

Wright was also charged with taking a $1,000 bribe from Chawla's brother, Hardeep, who was acquitted.

Wright was sentenced last month to four years and is scheduled to report to prison Sept. 24. Chawla is to report within 45 days.

"Ravi" Chawla's attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, said he planned to ask Robreno to allow Chawla to remain free on bond pending appeal.

Andrew Teitelman, lawyer to the Chawlas' companies, was also convicted. His sentencing, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed until October.

Robreno set sentencing guidelines of 51 to 63 months for Chawla, but granted a variance, noting that public officials in previous cases received stiffer sentences than the citizens convicted with them.

Six witnesses offered glowing testimony of Chawla's character.

Lawyer Jacob Snyder testified that Chawla had hired him as a college dropout to work in his clothing store on Cottman Avenue. Chawla would push him to go back to college and eventually get his law degree. Snyder said Chawla took homeless people in, fed them hot dogs, and gave them clothes.

Rabbi Solomon Isaacson said Chawla not only had contributed money to his soup kitchen but also worked in it.

Jim Pawlikowski, a former Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. staffer, said Ravinder and Hardeep Chawla's development of brownfield properties in Northeast Philadelphia had contributed tens of millions of dollars to the economy and "hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs."

Robreno found that Ravinder Chawla committed perjury when he testified that he had not known Wright moved, rent-free, into a building he controlled. The apartment was worth between $1,200 and $1,500 a month, the judge found. Wright was there for 14 months.

Chawla recounted for the judge highlights of his biography, more of which he provided at trial.

Chawla, 59, was a 15-year-old living in Burma (now Myanmar) when a military junta took over. His father, grandfather, and several cousins and uncles, who were ethnic Indians, were arrested and the children dispersed around the globe.

Chawla ended up in Calcutta, India, where he met Mother Teresa and volunteered for her organization, he testified yesterday. Chawla came to the United States when he was 20 and received a master of business administration from Rollins College in Florida.

Chawla started a clothing import business in 1975, eventually opening his own stores, called Sunshine Blues.

In 2003, he began concentrating on real estate and transformed a clothing company, World Apparel, into World Acquisition Partners. World Acquisition Partners sought Wright's help in zoning for the sprawling River City proposal, a mixed-use project along the Schuylkill at JFK Boulevard. He was also involved with his brother in Sant Properties, another real estate firm.

The Chawlas' father would eventually be released and escape from Myanmar, and has been living with Ravinder Chawla for 25 years. He and his wife were in court yesterday.

Chawla's story set the stage for one immigrant pleading for mercy from another immigrant who fled an oppressive regime - Robreno was born in Cuba.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bresnick, the prosecutor, said Chawla had "cast a black eye on the American dream."

But Robreno said he was convinced that Chawla had "touched many people in a positive way."

Chawla may not have profited from Wright's help, Robreno said, but he undermined public confidence in government. Robreno questioned how corruption continued in the city in this and other recent cases.

"Why would a successful businessman feel there was a need to line the pockets of a public official to get a project done?" Robreno asked. "What is it . . . that leads to this kind of corruption?"

In an e-mailed statement, U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy said, "We think Judge Robreno got it right. It doesn't matter whether you are paying the bribe or taking it, you are still cheating the public and a prison sentence is appropriate."