A Kalispell-based company that provides hazardous material mitigation services admitted in federal court on Nov. 5 to filing false requests for payments to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The company claimed an abatement of lead paint was done at Freedom’s Path Fort Harrison when it was not, the Daily Montana reports.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris presided over the arraignment in which Mold Wranglers, Inc., represented by owner Jonathan Carpenter, pleaded guilty to one felony count of False Claim Act conspiracy. The company faces a maximum fine of $500,000 and restitution.
According to court documents, Mold Wranglers agreed to perform work converting a residential unit at the Freedom’s Path Fort Harrison, affordable rental housing units for veterans and their families at Fort Harrison. From 2018 to 2019, Mold Wranglers conducted work at Freedom’s Path Fort Harrison, which included painting over lead-based paint with an encapsulating paint.
Given the dangers associated with lead, federal regulations strictly regulate all lead work and require contractors be certified and notify the Environmental Protection Agency that lead work is occurring.
In court documents, the government alleged Mold Wranglers’ employees were not certified to conduct lead work, they failed to notify the EPA and they applied the encapsulating paint inconsistent with the paint manufacturer's specifications. In addition, Mold Wranglers submitted 11 Subcontractor Requisitions for Payment detailing that lead-based paint work was performed.
Those claims, totaling approximately $456,000, were submitted to the VA and paid with federal funds. When doing so, Mold Wranglers and others claimed they performed an “abatement,” which was false, even after the companies specifically agreed not to perform an abatement.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, provided part of an email where an individual states: “The plan is to aesthetically repair the paint and finish the homes. It’s not to remove the lead hazard and if the plan is to go down the abatement road, then it will be a significant increase to the scope of the work.”
The companies requested and received approximately $456,000 from the federal government for their work.
Morris set sentencing for March 4, 2025.
Additionally, a Helena-based property manager, 54-year-old Melanie Ann Carlin of Clancy, pleaded guilty the same day for failing to provide lead-based paint disclosure to veterans living at Freedom’s Path Fort Harrison between September 2019 and September 2021. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that placed at least one person “in imminent danger of death and serious bodily injury” and exposed several other families to high levels of lead.
Carlin’s company, 406 Properties, Inc., was in charge of property management for the rental units at the fort, and according to federal prosecutors, she knowingly signed two forms in which she falsely represented that she did not need to provide lead-based paint disclosures to the residents.
In 2020, according to prosecutors, she also failed to disclose there was lead-based paint at one of the units, and the next September, an 18-month-old child in that home was found eating paint chips. The child had tests run that confirmed they had “very high” lead levels in their blood, then had to be treated for lead poisoning. A subsequent review of the rental units found lead present in almost every rental unit.
Carlin on Nov. 5 pleaded guilty to one felony count of knowing endangerment. She faces a minimum of 15 years in prison at her sentencing, which is also scheduled for March 4, 2025.
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