A major New Jersey engineering firm admitted making illegal campaign contributions, was fined $1 million and banned from working on government contracts in the state for 10 years.

Birdsall Services Group (Facebook)
Birdsall Services Group (Facebook)
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Birdsall Services Group entered guilty pleas Thursday to money laundering and making false representations for government contracts.

Prosecutors had charged the Eatontown firm made hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate political contributions through its employees to evade New Jersey's pay-to-play law. The firm got millions of dollars in public contracts for which it should have been disqualified.

The deal also obligates the firm to cooperate with an ongoing prosecution of individual defendants charged in the case. Seven company executives or shareholders face conspiracy and money laundering charges, and have entered not guilty pleas.

Birdsall is being sold to a California firm.

 

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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