Summary

J.D. Miller & Sons, Inc., and company vice president John Miller, of Thonotosassa, FL, were fined by a U.S. District Court judge in Tampa, FL for conspiring to violate Federal and state affirmative action laws designed to promote disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE's). John Miller and J.D. Miller & Sons pleaded guilty May 25, 2001 to charges of conspiring to defraud the United States by using false documents and committing mail fraud to make it appear the company was a certified DBE. As a result of the DBE fraud, the company received $254,000 in FHWA-funded contracts to transport construction materials for the I-4 project in Hillsborough County, Florida, between 1996-1998. The company was fined $30,000 and placed on five years’ probation. John Miller was sentenced to 60 months probation and a $3,000 fine. OIG investigated this case with the Florida DOT-OIG and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.