Portsmouth Employer Ordered To Pay $1,500 For Wage Theft

PORTSMOUTH, RI — A Portsmouth employer pleaded guilty to wage theft charges and agreed to pay $1,500 in unpaid wages to two former employees, Attorney General Peter Neronha said.

Ronald Harnois, 43, owns Roharn Construction in Portsmouth. He pleaded no contest to two counts of failure to make a payment to an employee, Neronha's office said, and one count of check fraud.

On Tuesday, Harnois was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to pay full restitution of approximately $1,500 to the two former employees.

According to Neronha's office, the charges come from claims that Harnois failed to pay two workers for a construction project in the summer and fall of 2018. At the time, he failed to pay one employee $713 in wages, and another $818 for work in August and September of that year. Harnois also issued a check for wages that was returned for insufficient funds, Neronha's Office said.