PORTLAND, Maine — A Jay man was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for federal program fraud during a hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court before Judge Jon D. Levy.
Timothy P. Gallagher, 47, also was ordered to undergo three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term and to pay $79,639 in restitution, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Gallagher pleaded guilty to the charge on April 14.
According to court records, Gallagher embezzled $79,639 from Stanford Management LLC, a property management company specializing in affordable housing, between May and November 2014.
The company received millions of dollars in federal benefits each year under programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
While employed as a full-time construction manager at Stanford, Gallagher set up a competing construction company and paid it to hire subcontractors to perform work on Stanford properties, the job he was being paid a wage to perform.
He also concealed his ownership of the competing construction company from Stanford and the federal agencies.
Gallagher had faced a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case that led to Gallagher’s conviction was investigated by HUD, Office of Inspector General and the USDA, with assistance from the Jay Police Department.