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On September 8, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana sentenced James Tassin to 24 months of probation, a $2,500 fine, and a $25 special assessment for violating the Clean Water Act. In September 2016, Tassin negligently struck a pipeline near the Chenier Ronquille barrier island on the coast of Louisiana, causing a harmful quantity of oil to discharge into navigable water and adjoining shorelines. The discharge affected natural resources under the management authority of the U.S. Government.

On September 7, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York sentenced David Rose to a $2,000 fine, a criminal forfeiture of $33,992, a $100 special assessment, and $33,992 in restitution to the U.S. Army. On March 30, 2022, Rose pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Rose and co-conspirator Sean O’Sullivan—co-owners of Sierra Delta Contracting, LLC (SDC)—participated in a scheme to obtain Government construction contracts set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB).

On August 30, 2022, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) suspended a New York painting contractor, Spectrum Painting Corp., from non-procurement Federal contracting. In July 2021, Spectrum and the U.S. Government entered into a stipulation and order of settlement and dismissal in which Spectrum admitted that between 2011 and 2013, it provided false payment claims and knowingly misrepresented the work of its employees on two federally funded projects requiring disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) participation. Spectrum was not a DBE.

 

On August 26, 2022, a grand jury in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama, indicted James Elder, former Alabama Export Railroad Engineer, for manslaughter. The indictment alleges that Elder's negligent actions while operating a locomotive caused the death of a railway worker. In November 2020 crash, Elder was operating a locomotive that crashed into an active railway maintenance crew, resulting in the death of one worker and serious injury to another. At the time of the collision, Elder was allegedly operating the locomotive at unsafe track speeds while using a cell phone.

On August 25, 2022, Lee Fondiller pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to one count of concealment of assets. Fondiller was indicted in April 2021 in connection with a scheme to import foreign currency. The investigation revealed that from July through October 2018, following the bankruptcy proceeding of Richard Boyd, a DOT employee, Fondiller received a material amount of property from Boyd with the intent of defeating bankruptcy proceeding provisions.

 

On August 23, 2022, Serghei Verlan pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to conspiracy in a racketeering enterprise—valued at between $1.5 and $3.5 million—to defraud more than 1,800 individuals throughout the United States. From April 2013 through July 2018, Verlan owned and operated various moving companies that defrauded, extorted, and stole from customers who hired the companies to move their household goods.

On August 17, 2022, Gordon Bellamy Jr. was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma for wire fraud, computer access fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Bellamy was arrested on August 23. The indictment alleges that Bellamy used a computer to access a Federal Aviation Administration database and fraudulently obtain an airframe and power plant certificate. Bellamy used the certificate to gain employment at an Oklahoma City aircraft repair station supervising maintenance technicians.

 

On July 21, 2022, Daniel Maquindang, a former employee of Shimmick Construction Co., Inc. (Shimmick), pleaded guilty to five counts of bank fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Shimmick was one of the prime contractors on the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project, which was partially funded by the Federal Highway Administration. The Gerald Desmond Bridge is a major access point to the Port of Long Beach from downtown Long Beach and the surrounding communities.