One year and one month in prison for wire fraud was metted May 16 to a Holmes Beach man.
A U.S. District Court judge May 16 handed down the sentence to Walter Craig Bradley, 65, for operating a solar-panel scam in eight states.
The former DataComm Services LLC owner pleaded guilty in the federal court to submitting false applications and fraudulently obtaining more than $9 million in reimbursements — including $590,000 from Florida projects — under the U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Judge Alvin W. Thompson, seated in in Hartford, Connecticut, sentenced Bradway to 13 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and 600 hours of community service.
Bradway faced 20 years in prison.
He must report July 18 to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Bradway requested a Florida minimum-security camp, but the prison bureau makes the placement, according to public information officer Tom Carson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Connecticut.
In an email, Carson stated Bradway did not charge his customers for the projects and “the only real victim is the Department of the Treasury.”
Bradway agreed to pay $8.9 million in restitution to the federal treasury as part of his plea. He has paid $91,000 so far, Carson wrote.
In 2010-11, Bradway applied for reimbursements for solar projects in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhone Island, Maine and California. He misrepresented projects and overstated their size and cost, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Manatee County approved an agreement with Bradway’s company for 26 systems at $4,000 per system at 17 county facilities. The contract fell apart when the panels were not delivered, and no county funds were spent, according to Manatee County public information officer Nick Azzara.
Bradway applied for projects in Port Charlotte, Fort Myers and Cape Coral, over-reporting the kilowatt size of the panels installed, Carson wrote.
Bradway told a federal reviewer in August 2011 he had provided false information.