New York Supreme Court Judge James A. Yates has sentenced two former executives of Marsh to 90 days in jail and five years probation after their conviction of felony monopoly charges for accepting contingent commission kickbacks.
The executives, William Gilman, a former executive marketing director and managing director at Marsh, and Edward McNenney, the brokerage's former Global Placement Excess Casualty director and managing director, were sentenced April 17.
Their jail term is to be served over 16 weekends, and they were also sentenced to perform 250 hours of community service. In addition they will be on probation for five years. No fine was imposed.
The sentences have been stayed pending the outcome of appeals. A defense attorney said it could take up to a year before there is a decision.
The original sentencing date was moved from April 30 because Judge Yates will leave the bench before then, according to a court officer.
The two were convicted in February after an 11-month nonjury trial before Judge Yates in connection with the New York Attorney General's Office investigation into bid-rigging and steering among some major insurance brokers, including Marsh.
Robert J. Cleary, an attorney with the law firm Proskauer Rose in New York City, representing Mr. Gilman, said the defense appreciated Judge Yates rejecting the prosecution's request for the maximum four years in prison.
Still, he said he felt a more appropriate sentence would have been straight probation. Over the course of the trial, according to Mr. Cleary, the prosecution proved none of the original 37 counts against the defendants, who were convicted of only one count, which was reduced to a class E felony. A class E felony is the lowest grade felony possible.
The "evidence was crystal clear" that the two did not personally benefit from their actions and the insureds received "great service and great coverage," said Mr. Cleary. "They got not a dime, and there was no intention to defraud [their clients]," he said.
Mr. Cleary said the executives' convictions under a low-grade felony should not prevent the two from resuming work in the industry in the future.
A call to the New York State Attorney General's Office for comment was not returned.
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