Man Gets 30 Days in Jail, Must Pay $144,000 for Comp Fraud

A Northern California man was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay $144,672 in restitution after pleading no contest to workers' compensation premium fraud, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office announced. Prosecutors say Michael George Mello Jr., 37, from July 2010 to July 2013 underreported the number of workers and total payroll at his Green Valley Landscaping Services.  In addition to jail and restitution, he was also ordered to serve five years of formal probation. Mello and his sister, Mary Catherina Rodriguez, 38, also pleaded no contest to tax evas...