A Hyde Park woman who defrauded the Metropolitan Sewer District was sentenced Monday to three months in prison and fined $5,000 by a federal court judge.
Diane Baron, who operated Storm Drain Control Consultants Inc., pleaded guilty in March to charges she fixed bids to win work in the sewer district's storm water removal program.
Mrs. Baron, 48, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott to 1,000 hours of community service and two years of supervised release. She also is required to make restitution of $20,000 to the sewer district.
Mrs. Baron's scheme - which resulted in the sewer district being overcharged between $20,000 and $40,000 - was revealed in an Enquirer series in March 1996. At that time, it was reported that Mrs. Baron and several contractors she represented may have rigged bids in the program that subsidizes repairs to keep rainwater from flowing into sanitary sewers.
The newspaper's series led the district to temporarily freeze the 4-year-old program and suspend those contractors. It also prompted investigations by the city and the FBI, the latter of which turned over its findings to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
