Mechanicville contractor gets probation for defrauding workers

PHOTOGRAPHER: Tatiana Zarnowski

A Mechanicville contractor who stiffed his workers out of $350,000 in wages on public projects was sentenced Tuesday to five years’ probation, prohibited from seeking public contracts for five years and ordered to pay back the money.

Jason M. Rich, 42, of 307 County Route 75, was sentenced by Saratoga County Court Judge Jerry J. Scarano. He also must complete 400 hours of community service.

Rich, who owns flooring company J.M. Rich LLC, pleaded guilty in March to scheme to defraud and failure to pay prevailing wages, both felonies under state Labor Law, as well as two misdemeanors: falsifying business records and failure to pay wages.

Authorities said that between 2008 and 2010, Rich secured the winning bid on 30 public projects and then failed to pay his workers the prevailing wage, as is required in construction projects involving taxpayer funds. Instead, he pocketed the extra money while turning over fake paysheets to government agencies showing he had paid workers the full wage.

He also stiffed workers for hours they spent loading and unloading his trucks and driving to jobs out of the area, authorities have said.

The public projects included the Rensselaer County jail, schools, hospitals and other public buildings around the state.

The 16 workers will get the money owed them, according to the Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office, because the state Labor Department can freeze certain contract payments and direct the funds be given to workers. An administrative hearing at the department’s Industrial Board of Appeals will determine the details.

Also recently in Saratoga County Court:

u Dale Pastore, 28, of 114 Maple Road, Cobleskill, was sentenced Tuesday to 11⁄2 to three years in prison and ordered to pay $3,489 restitution for a fourth-degree grand larceny conviction. Pastore pleaded guilty in January to committing the crime in July 2012 in Mechanicville.

u Ryan D. Bailey, 29, of 17 Saratoga Ave., Waterford, was sentenced Monday to six months in the Saratoga County jail and five years’ probation for fifth-degree attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance, a crime he committed in December in Waterford.

u James L. Salvo, 42, of 526 Gerling St., Schenectady, pleaded guilty Monday to fourth-degree grand larceny. He was charged with committing the crime in January in Saratoga Springs.

u Tyler S. Bellick, no age given, of 1057 Glenwood Blvd., Schenectady, pleaded guilty Monday to driving while intoxicated in December in Saratoga Springs.

u Elizabeth J. Lorman, 54, of 3C4 Jefferson Terrace, Saratoga Springs, pleaded guilty Friday to fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in July in Saratoga Springs.

u Lisa M. Vedder, 48, of 742 Carlton Road, Clifton Park, pleaded guilty Friday to driving drunk in separate incidents in June in Mechanicville and in July in Malta.

u Steven M. Brady, 26, of Troy, was sentenced Friday to four years in prison and three years of post-release supervision for third-degree attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was arrested in June in Halfmoon.