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BRIGHTON — A former vice president of Quality Paving conspired with other company and Adams County officials to bilk taxpayers out of at least $1.4 million through an elaborate road-paving scheme, prosecutors said Friday.

They brushed aside defense assertions that 58-year-old Dennis Coen was just a “worker bee” at Quality Paving who had no idea that felonies were being committed on his watch.

“That is $1.4 million that could have been used for schools or something else worthwhile,” Adams County prosector Dave Young told jurors in Adams County District Court. “But it went into his (Coen’s) pocket.”

Prosecutors and Coen’s attorney, Craig Johnson, delivered closing arguments Friday in Coen’s three-week-long trial. He faces 69 felony counts including theft, forgery, conspiracy to commit theft and attempting to influence a public official.

All the charges are related to allegations that employees at Quality Paving and Quality Resurfacing and workers at Adams County billed taxpayers for work that was never done.

Allegations include that the county paid to resurface an intersection that does not exist and paid for 15 miles of paving on a road that is 10 miles long.

Adams County construction manager Sam Gomez, 64, and former Adams County public works director Lee Asay, 60, face similar charges. All those charged criminally have also been named in a federal lawsuit filed by the Adams County commissioners seeking repayment of $8.6 million allegedly bilked from taxpayers.

A former Adams County road inspector and a former Quality Paving official both pleaded guilty to lesser criminal charges and agreed to testify. A former paving company worker was acquitted in the first case to go to trial.

Coen testified for two days. He told jurors that mistakes were made in billing and in making change orders but said that he did not intentionally mislead the county.

Johnson — Coen’s attorney — argued that this case should be tried in civil court because the only thing Coen was guilty of is shoddy management.

“The rules may not all have been followed as they should have been,” Johnson said. “But if there are problems with specifications, that should be left to the civil courts.”

He added that Coen voluntarily cooperated with officials and he was a “worker bee” at Quality Paving with nothing to hide.

“He didn’t get into his truck with the documents and take them all to the dump because he had no reason to,” Johnson said.

But Young told jurors that Coen, as vice president, set about to double-bill and charge for stockpiling materials while working with Gomez and Asay to enrich himself.

“He invoiced everything,” Young said. “They knew they could make money on every single job” even if they didn’t do any real work.

Jurors will begin deliberations Monday morning.

Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com