Former Baltimore construction manager pleads guilty to wage theft

Fredy Arellano, 45, of York, Pennsylvania, a former superintendent for a Baltimore City construction company, pleaded guilty to wage theft, the Maryland Attorney General's Office said Monday.

Arellano was a field superintendent for Congratulations Construction Inc. He solicited the company to provide drywall carpenters and laborers on two construction projects in Prince George's County: the University of Maryland Capital Region Cancer Center and the University of Maryland Field Hockey and Women's Lacrosse Complex, the AG said.

For these projects, employers were required to pay their employees a wage determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry and to submit certified payroll demonstrating that they had done so.

Arellano and the owner of Congratulations Construction Inc. falsified payroll names submitted records to the state falsely claiming the employees were paid, and took money that was due to the workers, according to prosecutors.

The employees were paid at a substantially lower rate than the wage required by law.
Arellano pocketed $63,157 in proceeds from the scheme.

Jose Walter Marquez Rivera, the owner of Congratulations Construction Inc., was sentenced in a related case last year.

Arellano was sentenced in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for one count of felony theft scheme $25,000–$100,000.

He was sentenced to five years in prison, with all but 90 days to be served on home detention, and three years of supervised probation. Arellano also paid full restitution of $63,157.