Contractors Under Indictment Have Won Big SD Bids

Records show that contractors under federal indictment in South Dakota for bid-rigging and hiring illegal immigrants have won state forestry contracts worth at least $1.47 million.

 

 

 

 

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Records show that contractors under federal indictment in South Dakota for bid-rigging and hiring illegal immigrants have won state forestry contracts worth at least $1.47 million.

Aurelio Muñoz-Escalante, owner of Black Hills Thinning Co., and Sergio Muñoz-Escalante, owner of SM Logging Co., were awarded four contracts last fall to thin out pine beetle-infested trees in Custer State Park.

Invoices show the state has paid Muñoz-Escalante at least $229,842 this year and $466,564 total since 2008. Muñoz-Escalante received nearly $195,000 in 2012.

Ray Sowers, director of the state's resource conservation and forestry division, says officials are ``following this closely.'' He says at this point there is no indication of damage to the state.

 

AP

   

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