Terrance Hardiman sentenced to prison for Pigeon Township kickback scheme

EVANSVILLE — An unlicensed contractor who pleaded guilty to helping two Pigeon Township officials organize an illegal kickback scheme will be sentenced to six months in prison, a federal judge ruled this month.

Terrence D. Hardiman’s sentencing hearing on Nov. 7 followed former Pigeon Township Trustee Mariama Wilson’s acceptance of the sentence. plead guilty to one count of wire fraud For accepting illegal payments from Hardiman, along with another official, William Payne. A judge is scheduled to sentence Wilson on Dec. 9.

According to the sentencing memorandum, Hardiman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering and was sentenced to two six-month prison sentences for those crimes, which he will serve concurrently.

Judge Matthew P. Brookman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ordered Hardiman to receive two years of probation after his release from prison. In exchange for his guilty plea, the government agreed to dismiss four additional charges Hardiman faced.

Payne is scheduled to be formally indicted in January, according to federal court records.

Wilson and Payne hired Hardiman and his contracting company, Hardiman Construction LLC, in February 2020 to remodel the town’s Dorothea McGregor Family Shelter and build an adjacent food pantry. In return, prosecutors said, Hardiman admitted: “He will give some of the money he received from the trustees back to Wilson and Payne.”

After determining how much each construction or renovation job should legally cost, Hardiman according to the plea agreementHe said he, Wilson and Payne will then determine how much to inflate the bills sent to the county.

In Wilson’s plea agreement, he admitted that he would receive payments of $1,000 to $2,000 from these inflated bills and that Hardiman would deliver them to him or Payne at the family shelter located just across Southeast 8th Street from the Pigeon Township Trustee’s Office.

“(Hardiman) deposited the checks into Hardiman Construction’s bank account, quickly withdrew all or nearly all of the payments in U.S. currency, placed Wilson and Payne’s commission in an envelope, and hand-delivered the envelope to Wilson or Payne,” the plea agreement states. states.

Prosecutors said Wilson and Payne each received about $19,000 from the county fund.

Hardiman Construction LLC was not licensed to do contracting business in Indiana, according to an affidavit filed in Vanderburgh County.

The Indiana State Board of Accounts later ruled that Wilson and Payne must pay approximately $90,000 to the county and state: $55,975 for invoiced work not completed, overpayment on invoices and payments with missing documentation, and $31,383 for special investigation cost.

Brookman ordered Hardiman to pay $38,000 in restitution to Pigeon Township, according to a sentencing document.

Houston Harwood can be reached at [email protected].

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