Asbestos and Lead Abatement Contractor and Others Sentenced
On December 8, 2006, Gulf Services Contracting, Inc. (GSC), an asbestos and lead abatement contractor located in Theodore, Alabama, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama as a result of a guilty plea to one charge of major fraud. On the same day, Michael Thomas Burge, president and owner, and Jonathan Valle, supervising foreman, were also sentenced as a result of their guilty pleas to submitting false statements to the government. GSC was placed on probation for 5 years and ordered to pay a fine of $96,451 and a special assessment of $400. Burge and Valle were both sentenced to home detention for 4 months, placed on probation for 3 years, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. Burge was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and Valle a $1,000 fine. GSC lied to the government about the identities and qualifications of employees who performed asbestos and lead removal on various military installations in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, as well as other abatement work on schools and municipal projects. GSC was using undocumented aliens with falsified asbestos training certificates to perform the asbestos abatement work and issued false certificates to individuals whose true names were not on the certificates and who had no training on asbestos abatement. GSC also provided false immigration and Social Security identification to its undocumented alien employees. This investigation was conducted jointly with the EPA Criminal Investigation Division; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Naval Criminal Investigative Service; the Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Case Cost: $189,122)