A contractor accused of hiring homeless men and having them remove asbestos without proper protective gear was sentenced this afternoon to 21 months in prison.
 
John Edward Callahan, 56, had pleaded guilty earlier this year to a Clean Air Act violation. Speaking to prosecutors before Callahan's sentencing today in federal court in Roanoke, his attorney, John Gregory, pressed an argument that the three day laborers Callahan hired had addresses and therefore were not homeless. It was a distinction that could have affected the length of Callahan's prison time, since federal sentencing guidelines allow a stiffer recommendation if the victim is considered vulnerable -- and the government had argued in this case that the victims qualified because of their homelessness.
 
But one of the men's address was the Rescue Mission, countered one of the prosecution team. Ten minutes or more of low-voiced discussion ended with agreement just before U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson entered the courtroom: Gregory would drop the objection he'd filed shortly before the hearing, and the government would recommend the low end of the 21- to 27-month prison sentence it was asking for.
 
Wilson said he'd been prepared to rule on Gregory's objection, but if both sides agreed, he'd go ahead and give Callahan the 21 months.
 
In addition, Callahan will be on supervised release for three years after he completes his prison term, meaning that if he breaks the law during that time he could face additional penalties. Wilson said there would be no fine for Callahan because he had no ability to pay it.
 
Similarly, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennie Waering said after the hearing, suggestions that Callahan pay for medical monitoring and treatment of the men he'd exposed to asbestos had been dropped. "He didn't have any money," Waering said.
 
Callahan said he'd cooperated with investigators and hoped that God would allow him to touch others' lives in prison.
 
"I wouldn't do anything intentionally to hurt anyone," Callahan told Wilson before he was sentenced. "Everyone pray for me."
 
Asbestos was widely used as a fireproof insulator from the 1940s to the 1970s. Exposure to the fibers can cause lung disease and other health problems.
 
According to court documents, Callahan had hired the three men in 2005 to take asbestos from the ceiling and pipes in the basement of the State & City Building on Campbell Avenue. He paid them $10 per hour and gave the men raincoats and paper breathing masks instead of the heavier gear required by federal regulations. He had them cut the asbestos down without wetting it, stirring up clouds of the toxic fibers. The men removed their masks to eat their lunches in the basement. The asbestos was packed into trash bags and sent to a regular landfill instead of to a hazardous materials facility as required.
 
Callahan's company, Environmental Construction, did not have a license to handle asbestos, and Callahan had not been trained in federally mandated procedures, prosecutors said earlier in the case. Callahan's contractor's license was pulled by the state and Environmental Construction went out of business after investigation of the State & City Building job began. Callahan told authorities he'd carried out many asbestos-related jobs in a similar manner over the years, but prosecutors said they did not have evidence to pursue charges in those cases.
 
The case prompted Roanoke to adopt tighter rules on asbestos removal.