Business

State College Contractor Receives Prison Sentence For Stealing From Workers

HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Monday announced that Scott Good, a Centre County contractor, has been sentenced to an aggregate of four months to two years minus four days in prison, followed by three years probation, and to pay a fine and provide 200 hours of community service.

Good was also ordered to pay $64,157.09 in restitution for stealing employees' wages for five years. His business, GoodCo, received a $10,000 fine. The sentencing is the result of an investigation that found Good underpaid workers on prevailing wage projects.

"The days when companies could screw over workers and not be held accountable to the law are over. If employers steal from their workers, through misclassification or violations of the prevailing wage, we will act," Shapiro said in a press release. "My office is committed, with our partners in law enforcement, to make sure working Pennsylvanians receive the wages and benefits owed to them under the law."

The Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act protects workers by ensuring that all contractors for projects that receive state or federal funding pay the same fair wage. The required wages and benefits change depending on the classification of the worker.

Good was charged after a 21-month statewide grand jury investigation found that he intentionally failed to pay workers required prevailing wages by directing them to record portions of their work hours as lower-paid laborers.

Shapiro said this was not the first time Good was involved in this type of misconduct as in 2006, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry sanctioned Allied Mechanical, Inc. -- a construction company for which Scott Good was the Vice President -- for engaging in the same type of wage misclassification scheme as was alleged in this case.

Good was sentenced before Fredric J. Ammerman, President Judge of the Clearfield County Court of Common Pleas.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte and Deputy Attorney General Philip McCarthy in partnership with the Fair Labor Section.