Former WV official get 1 year prison sentence

A former West Virginia official in charge of reviewing and awarding contracts for asbestos and lead abatement projects has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Paul Prendergast, of Gaithersburg, Md., pleaded guilty in 2007 to violating the federal Travel Act by leaking confidential bidding information to a Maryland company.

Prendergast was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte, who also fined the 47-year-old $3,000.

In exchange for inside information, court documents say Prendergast received money and other benefits from the Maryland contractor, including three payments of $6,000, $2,500 and $2,500 between 2000 and 2003.

Prendergast was an occupational health and safety coordinator at the West Virginia Department of Administration from 1998 to March 2003.