Former Businessman Pleads Guilty

{Beckley, West Virginia}...Alfred Williams, 72, former operator of Williams Mechanical, Inc. in Beckley, entered a guilty plea Thursday before U.S. District Judge Irene Berger to taking more than $400,000 in illegal kickbacks from former employees. Williams admitted that for about 10 years he routinely required at least one-third of his employees to return cash to him from their paychecks to keep their jobs with the company. He said he received $600 to $1,000 each week from the employees. At the time of the scheme, the company was performing work as a plumbing sub-contractor for multiple public works projects that had been paid for with government monies. The state Division of Labor forced Williams in 1998 to pay 13 employees more than $25,000 for failure to pay the wages to which they were entitled. He faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced October 25th. Williams agreed at the plea hearing to pay restitution up to $520,000.