Boston Big Dig Contractor Pleads Guilty to Fraud

In a plea agreement announced on Friday by US Attorney Michael Sullivan in Boston, McCourt Construction Company pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the US government “with respect to claims on a federal highway project.” The company’s project manager Ryan McCourt, son of the owner, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to submit false statements regarding a federal highway project. McCourt Construction was one of the main contractors on the project; the charges arose from overbilling on the I-93 Tip O’Neill Tunnel project. McCourt admitted participating in over 1500 instances of overbilling in which subcontractors charged journeyman labor rates for work actually done by apprentices. This scheme also increased McCourt’s profits because it was paid 10% of the billings as overhead and an additional 10% as allowable profit margin. The company has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine; Ryan McCourt could face up to 5 years in prison but prosecutors will recommend a sentence in the low end of the sentencing range. A DOJ press release here announces the filing of the information; an AP story on the plea agreement is here.