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Indictment of Rogers contractor dropped Friday, Apr 25, 2008 By Doug Thompson Arkansas News Bureau FAYETTEVILLE - A Missouri federal grand jury's indictment against managers of a Rogers company have been dismissed, the federal court clerk's office and U.S. Attorney's office in Kansas City, Mo., confirmed Thursday. The June 2006 indictment involving wage and hour provisions of a federal contract was issued against employees of Managed Subcontractors International Inc. of Rogers. The indictment was dismissed April 10, federal officials said. MSI was hired to help build a basic training complex at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Contractors for federal jobs are required to pay the prevailing local wage, calculated under a formula. The 52-count indictment charged that deductions from workers' paychecks took MSI out of compliance with that provision of the contract, which MSI denied. Don Ledford, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri, said Thursday that 51 of the 52 counts have been dropped and that the one remaining count was against an individual who is not employed by MSI. That defendant pleaded guilty April 18, he said. The court ordered the other counts dropped due to failure to bring the case to trial in a timely manner, Ledford said. The U.S. attorney's office asked that the case be dismissed "without prejudice," which would allow the government to refile the charges. Ledford said he could not comment on whether the government would refile a case that it had not brought to trial in almost two years. MSI was awarded a contract for framing, drywall hanging, finishing and related trades for a subcontractor working on the construction of the Basic Combat Training Complex at Fort Leonard Wood. The contract was administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and under the federal Davis Bacon Act, wages paid to workers were required to meet or exceed the prevailing wage rate, according to the Justice Department. MSI's work on the contract was from Nov. 11, 2002, to July 23, 2003. Counts 1-50 of the indictment, which were dropped, accused Brentt Tumey, MSI's director of operations, and a staff member of making false statements of compliance. The statements said that no deductions had been made from wages paid by MSI on the project "other than permissible deductions," federal officials said. The indictment alleged that MSI made an unlawful deduction of 10 percent from its employees' gross earnings for workers' compensation insurance. It also alleged that the workers were not covered by a policy of workers' compensation insurance. Count 51 of the indictment contended an invalid Social Security number was given by Anibal Tristan Rodriguez, 32, of Dallas. Rodriguez was identified in the indictment as a manager for MSI. Company officials said in earlier interviews that MSI never employed Rodriguez. It was Rodriguez who pleaded guilty last week. Count 52, which was also dropped, alleged that MSI failed to carry workers' compensation insurance. Neither Brentt Tumey nor MSI President Robbyn Tumey would comment Thursday. |
