“A former city of Dayton asbestos contractor was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison and three years probation on drug and weapons convictions in Cincinnati.

Penland was president of the now-defunct AR Environmental Inc., which won more than $1 million in demolition and asbestos removal contracts from the city of Dayton in 2009 and 2010, but was later sued for alleged fraud and noncompliance.

In Dayton, Penland’s company was hired despite his five previous felony convictions — four on gun or drug charges — and the company was eventually cited for multiple violations by the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency.

The city of Dayton terminated its contracts with AR Environmental late in 2010, then sued Penland and his company in U.S. District Court in October 2011, saying AR performed “bogus” asbestos surveys, filed fraudulent invoices and demolished vacant buildings without properly removing cancer-causing asbestos.”

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