Contractor Ordered to Begin Jail Sentence for Underpaying Workers
PHOTO CAPTION: Scott Cameron Good of State College who was charged by the attorney general’s office with theft for underpaying workers, pleaded guilty in April 2021. He then appealed his conviction, holding it up for over two years. The appeals also delayed the payment he made of over $64,000 in restitution, to the victims. He was finally ordered to start his sentence on May 8.
By Julie Rae Rickard
CLEARFIELD – A State College man accused of underpaying his workers has now started to serve a jail sentence on felony theft charges after a delay of over two years.
Centre County contractor, Scott Cameron Good, 60, was charged after a grand jury investigation discovered he had underpaid his employees in wages and benefits for five years, according to a previous press release from then Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
“The charges are the result of a 21-month Statewide Grand Jury investigation that originated from allegations of theft of wages and benefits from employees on a $16 million public works project in Clearfield County for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in 2014.”
The investigation found that Good and his company, Goodco Mechanical Inc. “violated prevailing wage laws by underpaying wages and claiming unlawful benefits credits on the Clearfield County PennDOT project, as well as other prevailing wage projects since at least 2010.”
Good agreed to plead guilty in March 2021 to five misdemeanor counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds for his actions between Oct. 1, 2014 and March 17, 2019 in Clearfield, Blair, Centre, Huntingdon, Lycoming, and Allegheny Counties.
In April 2021, President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman presided over a sentencing hearing where he stated that he had received numerous letters in support of Good and then he heard from three people who appeared in court to voice their support of him.
It was noted that Good had paid $64,157.09 in restitution prior to the original sentencing hearing but that money has been held by the court pending appeals by Good’s attorneys.
His total sentence of 120 days to two years less four days plus three years consecutive probation was given a stay until the appeal process ended.
After exhausting all possible appeal options, Good was back in court on May 8 where he was ordered to begin his jail sentence.
In his original sentencing hearing, Good himself addressed the court saying the case was an “embarrassment” to both him and his employees.
“I’m truly sorry,” to everyone impacted by his actions, he stated, adding that it was never his intention to harm anyone.
“The time has come for the defendant to serve the sentence imposed. My office has fought to make sure that happens and that the victims receive their owed restitution,” said Current Attorney General Michelle Henry in a press release.
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.
The case was prosecuted by Chief Deputy Attorney General Patrick Schulte and Deputy Attorney General Philip McCarthy in partnership with the OAG’s Fair Labor Section.