BOSTON—A Big Dig contractor and one of its managers on Friday pleaded guilty to fraud after allegedly overbilling the project by $300,000.
McCourt Construction Company and Ryan McCourt, who handled billing for the company, admitted to charges including defrauding the Big Dig by falsely categorizing apprentice ironworkers as higher-paid journeymen, which inflated the bill for their work.
With the plea, McCourt Construction agreed to a $500,000 fine.
Ryan McCourt, the son of owner Richard McCourt, faces a sentence of up to five years in prison, but the U.S. Attorney's office said it would recommend a sentence on the "low end" of the sentencing range.
McCourt Construction had a $245 million contract to do finish work on the Interstate 93 tunnel. The U.S. Attorney's office says the scheme involved more than 1,500 instances of over-billing and took place over three years, starting in 2002.
In a statement, McCourt Construction and Ryan McCourt said the problem was "isolated" and "not consistent with McCourt Construction's overall commitment to integrity and a long-standing history of impeccable business practices."
The $14.79 billion Big Dig, famous for delays and cost overruns, buried the old elevated Central Artery underground and improved connections to local highways and Logan International Airport.
