Carroll County Man Facing Federal Indictment for Allegedly Overcharging the U.S. Postal Service Under His Company’s Contract to Perform Maintenance and Repair Services at Postal Service Facilities

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted Joseph Liberto, age 45, of New Windsor, Maryland, on federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with his company’s contract to perform repairs at U.S. Postal Service (USPS) facilities.  The indictment was returned on December 18, 2019.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur and Special Agent in Charge Scott Pierce of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

According to the 31-count indictment, between 2014 and 2018, Joseph Liberto, President of Sierra Construction LLC, in Frederick, Maryland, contracted with EMCOR-CSC to provide repair services to USPS facilities.  EMCOR acted as the clearing house responsible for receiving service calls for needed maintenance and repair work on its customers’ facilities, including the USPS, and assigning such work to service providers, such as Liberto and Sierra.  The indictment alleges that Liberto engaged in a scheme to defraud EMCOR and the USPS by fraudulently concealing Sierra’s use of subcontractors to carry out maintenance work it was assigned to perform, making false statements, and providing false documents to EMCOR, in order to overcharge the USPS.  The indictment alleges that Sierra obtained approximately $2 million through these fraudulent overbillings.

If convicted, Liberto faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the conspiracy, and for each of the 30 counts of wire fraud.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.  An initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore has not yet been scheduled.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings. 

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the Contract Fraud Investigation Division of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General for its work in the investigation.  Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jefferson M. Gray, who is prosecuting the case.

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