New York Safety Inspector Sentenced For Fabricating Gas Pipeline Test Results Designed To Prevent Gas Leaks And Explosions

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, announced today that MICHAEL VASCONCELLOS was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to fabricate hundreds of gas pipeline safety test results provided to a regulated utility company ("Utility-1"), resulting in Utility-1 incurring more than $60 million in remediation costs. On April 21, 2026, VASCONCELLOS pled guilty to a superseding Information charging him with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud before U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel, who also presided over today's sentencing.

"Michael Vasconcellos fabricated gas pipeline test results designed to prevent gas leaks and explosions, putting the lives of New Yorkers at risk," said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. "Today, the defendant faces the consequences of this fraud, having been sentenced to 30 months in prison. Instead of doing his job, the defendant left New Yorkers relying on critical safety checks that never happened, and cost a utility company more than $64 million in remediation."

According to the Indictment, Superseding Information, and public court filings:

Between at least in or about 2016 and 2023, VASCONCELLOS and his co-conspirator, Liam Treibert, were supposed to perform safety inspections of welds on natural gas pipelines that were being installed throughout New York City and Westchester County. Those inspections were necessary to ensure that the welds did not contain defects that could cause gas leaks or explosions. VASCONCELLOS and Treibert lied about having inspected hundreds of welds that they never actually reviewed and created fraudulent records to cover up what they had done. As a result, Utility-1 paid for hundreds of sham inspections and was deceived by VASCONCELLOS and Treibert into thinking that its pipelines had passed critical safety tests that VASCONCELLOS and Treibert never performed.

As part of the pipeline installation process, Utility-1 or its contractors would typically place gas pipelines into the ground in segments and then weld those segments together. Before a pipeline could be put into service, the welds throughout the pipeline had to be inspected to assess their quality. Those inspections included non-destructive testing.

One common form of non-destructive testing of pipeline welds involved radiographs, often referred to as x-rays. Radiographic testing required a team to radiograph each weld and then examine the films to identify any defects in the welds. If a defect was identified, then the weld would have to be repaired before the pipeline was put into service. Failure to repair a defect before a pipeline was put into service could have led to critical failures, including gas leaks or explosions.

During the period alleged, VASCONCELLOS and Treibert, while performing radiographic testing for Utility-1, repeatedly engaged in a practice referred to in the non-destructive testing industry as "radaring." Radaring typically involved radiographing the same weld twice and then passing off one copy of films as having come from a second weld. For instance, a radiographer might radiograph Weld A twice and then claim that the second set of films is of Weld B, even though the radiographer never inspected Weld B.

In total, hundreds of welds across Utility-1's pipelines installed throughout the Bronx and Westchester County between in or about 2016 and 2023 were affected by radaring engaged in by VASCONCELLOS and Treibert. To date, Utility-1 has spent more than $64 million remediating the effects of this fraud.

On April 21, 2026, VASCONCELLOS entered a guilty plea to a superseding Information, charging him with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud.

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In addition to the prison term, VASCONCELLOS, 45, of Mahopac, New York, was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and ordered to pay over $64 million in restitution.

Mr. McDonald praised the outstanding investigative work of the Offices of the New York State Inspector General, the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the special agents with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

This case is being handled by the Office's White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David A. Markewitz and Jay McMahon are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from paralegal specialist Samantha Olsen.