No Md. pacts for Sapperstein

Baltimore & Region

The state Board of Public Works voted yesterday to bar Baltimore businessman Gilbert Sapperstein, who pleaded guilty to defrauding the city school system of $3.3 million, from entering into work contracts with public agencies for an indefinite period.

Assistant Maryland Attorney General Gary Honick said the state wanted Sapperstein prohibited from gaining state contracts because of his role in the schools scandal and to ensure the integrity of the public procurement process. He said Sapperstein, the former owner of All-State Boiler Services Inc., could file a petition with the board in five years to have the prohibition lifted.

Sapperstein also runs a bar vending machine business, and he acquires and resells liquor licenses. He admitted paying bribes to a city schools employee in exchange for fraudulent work orders that netted his boiler business millions of dollars in extra revenue. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in August but served only about a month before his sentence was reduced and he was released to home detention.