NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An unlicensed contractor who was also a suburb’s head of inspections and code enforcement has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and filing false tax returns, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
James Mohamad, 52, of Kenner, bribed a New Orleans inspection official to get fraudulent permits for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning contracts in the city, paying about $93,000 to him and to people whose names and license numbers were used on the permits, according to a court document.
It said he paid $500 each time to a licensed contractor and $300 each time to Brian Medus, of Covington, who was then assistant chief mechanical inspector for New Orleans’ Safety and Permits Department
Mohamad was director of Kenner's Department of Inspection and Code Enforcement and — as an inspector for a third-party company — sometimes inspected his own work in New Orleans, the document said.
Mohamad also left $1.1 million to $1.7 million a year out of his income tax returns for the four years starting in 2016, reporting $56,666 to $141,061, the court document said.
Medus pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy with Mohamad.
The conspiracy charge carries up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Tax fraud has a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Medus is scheduled for sentencing May 18 and Mohamad on July 13,
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