Cape man gets prison time for workers' comp crime

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been changed to correct that Overbeck was sentenced to state prison, not federal prison.

Southeast Missourian

Cape Girardeau business owner Jeffery Overbeck has been sentenced to two years in state prison following a guilty plea Monday on a felony workers' compensation noncompliance charge. Overbeck, who operated Overbeck Construction in Cape Girardeau, was sentenced by Circuit Judge William Syler as a prior offender.

Because Overbeck had employees, he was required by law to carry workers' compensation insurance, state Attorney General Chris Koster said in a news release that announced the sentencing. Overbeck failed to carry the insurance from April 2006 to August 2008, the release said.

Overbeck previously had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of noncompliance in 2001, Koster said.

"We've made great inroads in collections and convictions for workers' compensation fraud and for noncompliance with mandatory workers' compensation insurance coverage over the past 21 months," Koster said in the release. "Businesses that fail to comply with the law in providing this insurance coverage are putting their workers at risk and this office will aggressively take legal action to see that protection is provided."