Two city employees sentenced in scrap metal scheme

BALTIMORE, Md. - For selling publicly owned scrap metal for personal gain, Lee Kane and Theodore Wojtas
pled guilty today before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Audrey J.S. Carrion. Each
defendant received a 10-year suspended sentence, a three-year term of probation, and an
order to pay restitution in full.

After receiving a tip, the Baltimore City Office of Inspector General launched an
investigation in February 2012 into the handling of scrap metal at the Baltimore
Department of Transportation's Poncabird facility.

The Baltimore City Police Department and State's Attorney's Office joined the investigation. Together, the
authorities discovered that Kane, a traffic signal maintenance supervisor, and Wojtas, a
traffic signal construction maintenance superintendent, sold more than 300,000 pounds of
scrap metal with a total value of approximately $30,000 to a private-sector company and
kept the proceeds for themselves.

Suspended from city employment pending the outcome of their case, both defendants
pled guilty to conspiracy to commit theft between $10,000 and $100,000.
Kane is required to pay more than $9,000 in restitution within three years. Wojtas must return
$20,000 within 15 days. The State sought but did not receive six months of jail time for
the defendants.