By Marijke Friedman and Sam Gauntt
A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing wages from people working on two University of Maryland construction projects.
Fredy Arellano was sentenced in Baltimore City Circuit Court for one count of felony theft scheme. He will serve 90 days on house arrest after Judge Jeffrey Geller suspended most of his five-year sentence. He also will serve three years’ probation, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown wrote in a Monday statement.
He also paid $63,157 in compensation for the stolen wages.
Arellano used to be the field superintendent for a Baltimore City construction company that was working on university projects, including the new Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex in College Park and the University of Maryland Capital Region Cancer Center in Largo.
Arellano hired Congratulations Construction Inc. to provide carpenters and laborers for the projects. An investigation by the Maryland Attorney General Office found that Arellano and the owner of Congratulations Construction Inc. submitted false payroll records to the state and paid the laborers lower than the rate required by law, Brown said Monday.
Jose Walter Marquez Rivera — the owner of Congratulations Construction Inc. — was sentenced in a related case last year. He was also ordered to pay more than $240,000 in restitution.
