Company involved in federal conspiracy case now sued by Industrial Authority
A Bibb County company involved in a federal criminal conspiracy case is now being sued in Bibb County Superior Court.
A civil case was filed last week by the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority against U.S. Technology Corp. for unpaid rent and because the company is suspected of storing hazardous waste.
The Canton, Ohio-based company has leased a 20,000-square-foot building on a month-to-month basis for $3,333.33 a month in the Allied Industrial Park since September 2009, according to the suit.
The lawsuit says U.S. Technology failed to pay rent for the months of June through December, but later said it made two payments during that period, which the authority applied to the June and July rent.
In addition, representatives from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division went to the company’s facility in September “to inspect it for unlawful storage of hazardous waste.”
Following that inspection, based on information provided to the authority, the authority “understood the Defendant was potentially storing waste in violation of certain environmental laws.”
The authority sent a notice of default Sept. 29 to U.S. Technology for not paying rent and for the potential violation of environmental laws. At that time, the company owed the authority $19,879 for past due rent, late fees and past due electric bill charges.
“The lease limits the use of the Premises to warehousing, and specifically states the Defendant cannot use it for any other purposes,” the document states. It further says that the company “shall not use any hazardous substances” except as allowed by all laws and regulations and in such case it would need to get any necessary permits or licenses.
U.S. Technology contacted the authority’s attorney around October and said it intended to make payments toward the past due rent until it caught up. It also said the materials stored at the premises “are not hazardous waste, but are being repurposed and recycled for roadbeds” and that the company was trying to get approval to repurpose the materials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
No further payments have been made since October, and the company now owes about $19,800, plus interest.
In mid-November, the authority received a notice from the federal EPA “regarding materials identified as spent blast media, which is hazardous waste, that is being stored” by the company on the property. This “spent blast media” is also known as material left after sandblasting work.
“Specifically, the (spent blast media) is toxic for cadmium and chromium,” according to a letter dated Nov. 17 from the EPA to the authority, that was filed with the suit. It also stated it saw “a large amount” of the material stored in the warehouse.
The suit is asking the court to enter an emergency injunctive relief and order the company to dispose of any hazardous materials and that all other issues, including the unpaid rent and attorney’s fees, should be tried by a jury.
Owner of company faces federal charges
Raymond F. Williams, the owner and CEO of U.S. Technology Corp., was indicted in June — the same month the company stopped making regular rent payments to the authority — by a federal grand jury on allegations that he conspired to bribe a Robins Air Force Base civilian employee so his company could win bids for multimillion-dollar military contracts, as first reported by The Telegraph.
Williams and co-conspirator, Larry A. Toth, owner of LT Associates Inc., also based in Canton, Ohio, were charged with conspiracy to bribe a public official and one count of conspiracy to launder proceeds of unlawful activity, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia in Macon. Williams also was also charged with 83 counts of bribery of a public official.
Mark E. Cundiff, a retired U.S. Department of Defense employee, pleaded guilty in April of participating in the conspiracy. And John Christopher Reynolds, owner of Macon-based Reynolds Engineering Inc., pleaded to aiding and abetting in the giving of a gratuity to a public official.
Cundiff was stationed at RAFB and part of his job was preparing the documents that described the Air Force’s requirements when the base solicited bids for new contracts.
Williams asked Cundiff to help him win contracts at Robins in 2004 or 2005, according to court documents. Cundiff prepared the documents so that U.S. Technology got a “substantial advantage” in winning the contracts, records show.
Because of this help, Reynolds, Cundiff and others purportedly were paid about $870,000, the suit states.
Williams was arrested June 23 in Akron, Ohio, on the charges. Both Williams and Toth have entered pleas of not guilty.
An attempt to reach Williams' attorney was not successful late Tuesday.
A trial in the criminal case has been set for April 2018.
Information from The Telegraph archives was used in this report.
Writer Linda S. Morris, 478-744-4223, @MidGaBiz
This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Company involved in federal conspiracy case now sued by Industrial Authority."