NEW YORK – A former vice president of IMS Safety, Inc., a Middletown company, was sentenced in federal court to two years in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to defraud the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

John Meyer, 58, pled guilty, admitted that he placed unqualified employees with DEP. His company had maintained it specialized in regulatory compliance in the area of worker health and safety. It was hired by DEP contractors to provide safety oversight contracts, which also required that safety oversight personnel be trained in rules and regulations relating to worker safety and be experienced in the construction industry and construction safety.

Meyer also admitted to have furnished a resume containing false representations to one IMS employee and coaching that person to confirm the false representations on the resume during an interview for a DEP safety position.

He admitted that DEP paid $1 million as a result of the fraudulent scheme.

In addition to the two year prison sentence, Meyer must pay back the $1 million and serve three years of supervised release.