纽约燃气管道检测员Michael Vasconcellos伪造数百份安全检测结果：判刑30个月、赔偿逾6400万美元
纽约州 Mahopac 居民、燃气管道安全检测员 Michael Vasconcellos（45岁）10月28日在纽约南区联邦法院被判处30个月监禁。他与同伙在2016年至2023年间伪造了数百份本应防范燃气泄漏与爆炸的管道焊口安全检测结果，受监管的公用事业公司为补救这场欺诈已花去逾6,400万美元。除监禁外，Vasconcellos 还被判处3年监管释放，并须支付逾6,400万美元赔偿。
纽约南区联邦检察官 Jamie McDonald 说：「Michael Vasconcellos 伪造了本为防范燃气泄漏与爆炸而设计的燃气管道检测结果，把纽约人的生命置于危险之中。他没有做好自己的工作，反而让纽约人依赖于从未真正发生过的安全检查，并让一家公用事业公司付出了逾6,400万美元的补救成本。」
据起诉书、替代信息书与公开法庭文件，Vasconcellos 与同伙 Liam Treibert 本应负责检查 New York City 与 Westchester County 一带新装天然气管道的焊口质量。这类检查采用射线照相（X光）无损检测：每个焊口都要拍片检查缺陷，有缺陷的焊口必须在管道投入使用前修复，否则可能导致燃气泄漏乃至爆炸等重大故障。
两人的造假手法在无损检测行业被称为「radaring」：把同一个焊口拍两次，再把其中一份胶片冒充为另一个从未检查过的焊口的检测结果。2016年至2023年间，Bronx 与 Westchester County 安装的管道中有数百个焊口受此造假影响；受骗的公用事业公司（检方文件中称 Utility-1）为数百次虚假检查付了费，至今已为消除这场欺诈的影响支出逾6,400万美元。
Vasconcellos 已于2026年4月21日就一项共谋电汇欺诈罪认罪，认罪与本次量刑均由联邦法官 Cathy Seibel 主持。本案由纽约州监察长办公室、美国交通部监察长办公室与联邦检察官办公室特工调查，由联邦检察官办公室 White Plains 分部承办，助理联邦检察官 David A. Markewitz 与 Jay McMahon 负责起诉。
New York Gas Pipeline Inspector Michael Vasconcellos Sentenced to 30 Months for Fabricating Hundreds of Safety Test Results, Ordered to Pay Over $64 Million in Restitution
Michael Vasconcellos, 45, of Mahopac, New York, a safety inspector for natural gas pipelines, was sentenced on October 28 in the Southern District of New York 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, resulting in the utility incurring more than $60 million in remediation costs. In addition to the prison term, Vasconcellos was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay over $64 million in restitution.
"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. "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 being installed throughout New York City and Westchester County. The inspections, which included radiographic (x-ray) non-destructive testing of each weld, were necessary to ensure the welds did not contain defects that could cause gas leaks or explosions; a defect left unrepaired before a pipeline entered service could have led to critical failures.
The two repeatedly engaged in a practice known in the industry as "radaring" — radiographing the same weld twice and passing off one copy of the films as having come from a second weld that was never inspected. In total, hundreds of welds across the utility's pipelines installed throughout the Bronx and Westchester County between about 2016 and 2023 were affected, and the utility has spent more than $64 million remediating the effects of the fraud.
Vasconcellos pleaded guilty on April 21, 2026, 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 the sentencing. The case was investigated by the Offices of the New York State Inspector General, the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and special agents of the U.S. Attorney's Office, and is being handled by the Office's White Plains Division, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys David A. Markewitz and Jay McMahon in charge of the prosecution.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于纽约 Manhattan Foley Square 的 Thurgood Marshall 美国法院大楼（纽约南区联邦地区法院所在地）。照片：Beyond My Ken 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse at Foley Square in Manhattan, home of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Photo: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
