MILWAUKEE (AP) - Documents filed in federal court in Milwaukee show a construction company owner has agreed to plead guilty to defrauding the government and to pay $1.6 million to resolve a whistleblower lawsuit.

Scott Watry, of Watry Homes, is accused of paying employees less than the mandated prevailing wage to do federally funded work at a public housing project in Milwaukee. He’s accused of telling federal officials he was paying the proper rate and then pocketing the difference.

The Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1GKagTg ) reports a plea agreement calls for Watry to pay about $660,000 in restitution to the employees of his New Berlin construction company and $1 million to the government. Federal prosecutors will recommend a sentence of one year and a day in prison. Watry’s brother-in-law, Jermaine Knight, earlier agreed to plead guilty in the case

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