Big Dig contractor faces ethics charge

BOSTON, April 24 (UPI) -- A contractor working on Boston's Big Dig project allegedly gave a state inspector a pair of $80 Red Sox tickets, officials say.

The Boston Globe reported Thursday that Thomas Riley, a vice president of P.J. Riley & Co., allegedly gave inspector Taylor Roth two tickets to several games from 2004 to 2006 for issuing plumbing permits and performing inspections on several projects.

Giving the tickets to the inspector would be a violation of state law, the newspaper said.

"Roth received the Red Sox tickets as a reward for permits he had issued and/or inspections that he had performed of P.J. Riley's work as a senior inspector and/or to influence such official acts that he would perform as a senior inspector," according to a complaint issued by the state Ethics Commission.

Roth, the company and Riley, all face charges that could result in civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation of the conflict of interest law, the report said.