Former Richmond employee and wife sentenced for defrauding city, estimated $226K loss

A former senior manager for the City of Richmond’s Department of Public Works and his wife were sentenced today for defrauding the city.

Michael Evins, 67, was sentenced to 27 months in prison. His wife, Samaria Evins, 52, was sentenced to 8 months of home incarceration.

Michael Evins, Samaria Evins, and their co-conspirators fraudulently caused DPW to disburse at least $603,701 in funds to companies owned by Samaria Evins and her co-conspirators, causing approximately $226,767 in loss to DPW.

According to court documents, Michael Evins previously served as the deputy director of operations at DPW and managed up to 60 other employees. Evins used his position within DPW, a governmental entity responsible for providing engineering, technical and administrative services to Richmond residents, to steer governmental contracts towards himself and his co-conspirators, including his wife.

From 2016 through 2021, the couple allegedly took steps to defraud the DPW. First, Samaria Evins and other co-conspirators created and operated straw companies to bid on DPW work.

Second, Michael Evins designated and approved DPW work to be performed by these straw companies using his position at DPW, circumventing Virginia law and City of Richmond rules against self-dealing by public employees.

In some instances, the work to be performed was completely fabricated and no such work was ever needed. In other instances, the work was actually performed by DPW employees, not by contracted vendors. Sometimes, Samaria Evins and other co-conspirators subcontracted the work out for profit upon winning the DPW work.

Third, where procurement amounts exceeded $5,000, a DPW approval threshold requiring that work be competitively bid, Michael Evins and his co-conspirators manufactured fictitious straw bids on behalf of competitor companies to engineer the preferred company winning the work.

Finally, upon receiving DPW funds, Samaria Evins and other co-conspirators paid Michael Evins a portion of the proceeds.

As an example, in 2019, DPW sought to have overgrown foliage at Parker Field cleared in advance of Fourth of July celebrations that same year. Though Michael Evins knew mowing of the field was being performed by DPW employees, he nevertheless approved a requisition in the DPW purchase order system for a company owned by Samaria Evins to mow the entire area 16 times in four days, at a total cost of $4,800.

A co-conspirator, Shaun Lindsey, a senior administrative technician at DPW, pleaded guilty to the same scheme on May 9 and will be sentenced on Nov. 14.