UC Davis housing contractor sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud, Yolo DA says

A contractor that helped build some on-campus housing at the University of California, Davis, was sentenced to prison Wednesday for insurance fraud, wage theft and perjury.

In a news release, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office said Earl Thompson of Colorado was given 10 years in prison without the possibility of probation after fraudulently obtaining a contract with UC Davis to work on dorms in the Tercero residence halls.

Thompson, after having his California-issued contractor’s license revoked, created a new company named Russell/Thompson using the names of his wife and a friend and won a contract with UC Davis using the contractor’s license they fraudulently obtained, according to the DA’s Office.

During the construction project, Thompson stole $633,199 from employees, defrauded the California State Compensation Fund out of $359,011 and committed perjury in an attempt to conceal the fraud, the DA’s Office said. Thompson is estimated to have caused a total loss of $2 million.

Thompson, 56, pleaded no contest to all charges July 10. He has a record of similar offenses, including prior convictions for insurance fraud and tax evasion. He has served time in prison, being released in 1995, the DA’s Office said.

“Mr. Thompson has spent his life defrauding innocent people with sophisticated fraud schemes,” Deputy District Attorney and case prosecutor Jennifer McHugh said in a prepared statement. “He not only stole money from his employees during a time when they were struggling to pay their bills, he stole a profitable construction contract from other legitimate contractors and their employees.”

The DA’s Office said Thompson’s case took six years to prosecute and involved more than 60 defrauded employees.