Tampa road builder gets 5 years for DOT fraud

TAMPA -- The owner of a Tampa construction company was sentenced to five years in state prison sentence this week for his involvement in an organized scheme to defraud the Florida Department of Transportation.

Michael L. Cone, 51, president and owner of Cone Constructors, also was ordered to serve five years probation after his prison term.

In a separate case, Cone is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court Friday. He has pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge and admitted hiding assets during bankruptcy.

In the state fraud case, a Leon County jury convicted Cone in February. He served as general contractor for portions of the Suncoast Parkway in Hillsborough and Pasco counties from July 1999 through May 2000. The Attorney General's Office said Cone filed false certificates with the state saying he had paid  all of his subcontractors when he hadn't.

Cone Constructors controller, Michael K. Behrens, pleaded guilty to charges of organized scheme to defraud and received nine months in prison. The company also was convicted of fraud and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine plus more than $219,000 in reimbursements to the state for costs to investigate and prosecute the case.

Cone faces up to 35 years in federal prison when he's sentenced Friday.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer