A document filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey shows that two officials with a construction company were hired to replace lead pipes in the city and misled officials by intentionally leaving lead pipes.
Federal prosecutors claim that in 2021 JAS Group Enterprise’s CEO, Michael Sawyer, and a foreman on the project, Latronia “Tee” Sanders, knowingly left lead pipes underground and lied about it while earning $10.2 million in government funds.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the final rule requiring drinking water systems across the country to identify and replace lead pipes within 10 years.
The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) also require more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold requiring communities to take action to protect people from lead exposure in water.
Utilities have been required to take inventory of lead service lines and will be required to replace lines that contain lead.
Leaving lead lines in place can transport contaminated drinking water to homes and businesses.
According to a New Jersey Monitor article, Sawyer and Sanders were arrested Thursday October 10, 2024, and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
A federal investigator found that Sanders ordered workers to cover up lead pipes while submitting false documentation of the company’s work.
The criminal complaint alleges that Sawyer and Sanders “knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with each other and others to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud the city of Newark, New Jersey, and to obtain money and property by means of materially fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises. . .”
The complaint states that the allegations took place from around January 2020 through January 2022.
This is around the same time that the city wrapped up the replacement of lead pipes after making it a priority to replace all of its lead service lines after detecting elevated levels of lead in 2016.
The criminal complaint shows that Sanders was foreperson on 14 sites where lead was found.
