West Virginia’s former asbestos chief pleads guilty for taking bribes from asbestos removal firm
While Paul Prendergast was the West Virginia General Services Division occupational health and safety coordinator between 1998 and 2003, he supervised the state’s asbestos and lead abatement program. Last week, he pleaded guilty in federal court in Maryland to violating the federal Travel Act and the West Virginia Bribery and Corrupt Practices Act by accepting kickbacks from a Maryland asbestos removal firm and rigging bids so that the firm would get state contracts. Prendergast shared inside information on competing bids with the Maryland company so it would be able to submit the lowest bid and win state contracts at the West Virginia Capitol Complex. Federal records show that Prendergast received at least three payments totalling $11,000 and, eventually, a job for triple his state salary with the Maryland firm. Prendergast could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison, and he will cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
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