Adams County’s former public works director was charged today with 26 counts alleging theft, attempting to influence a public servant, embezzlement and official misconduct in the ongoing Quality Paving scandal.
Leland Asay, 60, is the seventh person to face criminal charges in the scandal in which Adams County taxpayers allegedly paid millions for paving work that was either over-billed or never done.
Asay is the third former Adams County official to be charged in the case.
The charges, filed this afternoon in Adams County District Court, include 24 felony counts and two misdemeanors. Among the charges are 21 counts of theft, three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, and one count each of emblezzlement of public property and official misconduct.
Asay resigned under pressure during the investigation into Quality Paving.
The scandal, which is the subject of ongoing investigation, involves the now-defunct Quality Paving and its sister firm, Quality Resurfacing.
In all, four company officials and employees and two workers in the Adams County Department of Public Works were previously arrested, accused of being involved in a scheme that saw taxpayers overbilled for some work and, in other cases, billed for work that was never done.
Two of those who were arrested have pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against others — Heath Russo, a former Quality Resurfacing official, and Stacey Parkin, a former construction inspector for the county.
A former company employee, Louie Schimpf, was acquitted by a jury earlier this month of involvement in the scheme.
Trials are pending for Jerry Rhea, the former president of Quality Paving and Quality Resurfacing; Dennis Coen, the former vice president of Quality Paving; and Sam Gomez, the former construction manager for Adams County public works.
In addition, Adams County Commissioner Alice Nichol is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation into her relationship with Quality Paving. Company officials had contributed to her campaign and had done work at her home, and she had voted to award contracts and change orders to Quality Paving.
Rhea also was on a three-member panel — as was Asay — that awarded Nichol’s son-in-law a high-paying Adams County job.
That investigation is being handled by Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case.
