Contractor Sentenced to 21 Months in Wage Scam

A Calabasas landscape contractor was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison Friday for forcing laborers to kick back more than half their wages.

Steve Salke, 48, pleaded guilty in February to making false statements to Caltrans to cover up the practice. From 1995 to 1998, the agency awarded his company, Aztec Landscaping, contracts worth more than $2 million to maintain highway interchanges.

Salke’s actions violated the federal Davis-Bacon Act, which required him to pay his employees the prevailing wage of $24 to $29 per hour, Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael W. Emmick said.

The laborers were paid the proper amount, but Salke arranged for them to be driven to banks to cash their paychecks. He required them to return at least half the money, Emmick said, resulting in net pay of $8 to $12 per hour.