The Washington Post - 07.09.2019

B4 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 , 2019

station walls.

A month later, a whistleblower

lawsuit alleged that the company

that manufactured the panels,

Universal Concrete, had falsified

quality reports. One person

pleaded guilty in connection with

the case, and the company even-

tually settled the suit for $1

million.

CRC said that the problem

could be resolved by applying a

special sealant to the panels, but

tests on panels treated with the

coating found that the coating

was not sufficient in at least

20 percent of sampled panels.

Stark said that the panels will be

retreated and retested.

“I appreciate these urgent

management alerts from the

WMATA inspector general re-

garding substandard contractor

work on the Silver Line,” Rep.

Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) said.

“This is the kind of oversight

work we expect from the WMATA

IG, and why I have consistently

advocated for greater resources

and independence for the

WMATA IG, including in the

Metro Accountability and Invest-

ment Act.”

Silver Line trains that were

originally set to begin running in

January 2020 probably won’t

start carrying passengers until

mid- to late 2020. Phase 2 is

11.5 miles long and has six sta-

tions, including one at Dulles

International Airport, and will

for the first time extend Metro

into Loudoun County. It has a

budget of roughly $2.8 billion.

Project officials said they don’t

expect the second phase to go

over budget, but they concede

they have not tallied the costs for

the months of additional delays

and change orders that have ac-

cumulated since c onstruction be-

gan five years ago. Those costs

could easily eat into the project’s

roughly $550 million contingen-

cy fund.

[email protected]

the company did not respond to

requests for comment Friday on

the inspector general’s findings.

The Silver Line’s second phase

has been beset by construction

problems.

Officials in April 2018 discov-

ered problems with hundreds of

precast concrete panels that were

installed at five of the six stations

being built for the rail line’s

second phase. An investigation

determined that the concrete

used for the panels did not meet

quality standards. The defect

could lead to water seepage and

premature deterioration of the

sealant to the panels. CRC’s p rior-

ity is to work closely with MWAA

and WMATA to agree on viable

solutions that bring the Phase 2

of the Silver Line to a successful

completion. We are confident

that we can arrive at a solution

that satisfies WMATA’s expecta-

tions for safety, quality, perform-

ance, and long-term mainte-

nance for project.”

Hensel Phelps’s work on the

rail yard was supposed to have

been completed in December

2018. But the contractor now says
      it doesn’t expect to complete the
      job until next July. Officials with

Aug. 7, now says the work likely

won’t be done until May. The

contractor missed the August

deadline despite receiving 13 ad-

ditional months to finish the

project after design changes re-

lated to storm-water manage-

ment were made.

“Capital Rail Constructors

(CRC) has just received WMATA’s

OIG’s alert and we are in the

process of reviewing and assess-

ing the information,” said Keith

Couch, project director for CRC.

“A t this time, we continue to

proceed with the previously ac-

cepted solution and are applying

He said MWAA shares those con-

cerns.

“We haven’t put together a

response at this point,” Stark said

of Wiedefeld’s letter.

Wiedefeld’s letter comes at a

time when the two major con-

tractors on the project — Capital

Rail Constructors and Hensel

Phelps — are scrambling to com-

plete work on the rail line’s sec-

ond phase.

Both contractors have already

missed critical deadlines for com-

pleting their work. CRC, which

was supposed to have finished

construction on the main rail line

seen by a separate entity, the
Metropolitan Washington Air-
ports Authority, which has faced
questions about its management
of the project.
Metro’s inspector general has
been conducting an independent
review of work on the $5.8 billion
rail project since a series of prob-
lems surfaced last year. His final
report is expected later this year,
but Cherrington said the two
issues were of such importance
that Metro management should
be made aware of them now.
The second phase of the Silver
Line, one of the largest rail proj-
ects currently under construc-
tion in the United States, is al-
ready more than a year behind
schedule on plans that would
extend it into Loudoun County.
A separate letter sent Friday to
MWAA chief executive Jack Pot-
ter from Metro General Manager
Paul J. Wiedefeld raised addition-
al concerns about the Silver Line
work, noting that “there have
been a series of significant quali-
ty related issues with certain
elements of the project.”
“Of critical concern to Metro
are multiple material unresolved
performance and construction
deficiencies,” Wiedefeld contin-
ued.
Wiedefeld said the transit
agency’s own consultants have
found that plates in special track
work at rail crossovers fall short
of Metro’s standards.
“The bottom line is everything
has to be safe,” he said. “It has to
meet the standards.”
Metro officials said they have
spent more than $100,000 on
outside consultants to evaluate
work on the Silver Line.
Charles Stark, executive direc-
tor of the Silver Line rail project,
said he had not seen the manage-
ment alerts from Metro’s inspec-
tor general but is aware of the
issues Wiedefeld’s letter raised.

SILVER LINE FROM B1

partisan. The six council member

seats will also be up for election

on Nov. 5, and 17 candidates have

filed to run for those offices.

Candidates have until Oct. 4 to

register.

Adams, Lucchi and Brady say

Bowie should have more say

about zoning and planning in its

city limits, which is controlled by

the county.

Keith Jackson, who unsuccess-

fully ran for mayor in 2015, also

has filed as a candidate. He did

not respond to requests for com-

ment.

[email protected]

cized the role of developers in

local politics, said that he would

be an advocate for smart growth

if elected and would avoid some

of the suburban sprawl that he

said has characterized recent de-

velopment. Brady has organized a

grass-roots group against the pro-

posed maglev train project be-

cause he worries about its eco-

nomic feasibility and effect on

private property and park land.

He unsuccessfully challenged

Robinson in 2015, winning 2,093

votes compared with 4,164 for

Robinson.

Local offices in Bowie are non-

was 4, said he does not see his

lobbying work as an issue and

would “certainly” s top working as

the city’s lobbyist if he were to

win.

He said he was proud of his

lobbying, including working with

the state delegation to secure

funding for the city’s 911 call

center and a senior center. Lucchi

said he wants to focus on preserv-

ing the quality of life in Bowie’s

existing neighborhoods and per-

haps turning its oldest section

into an arts and entertainment

district.

Brady, who has publicly criti-

the political establishment.

Adams said he thinks the city

needs a “political outsider” like

himself, and Brady said he “abso-

lutely” thinks Lucchi and others

should be barred from running

for public office while they hold

contracts with the city.

But Robinson, who announced

his retirement this spring, said

Lucchi is the candidate with the

best chance of maintaining Bow-

ie’s financial stability and bring-

ing people together.

“He knows everybody,” said

Robinson, who has campaigned

on behalf of Lucchi. “If you like

what I’ve done in the city, then

you’ll like Len.”

Robinson said city staff deter-

mined that Lucchi’s mayoral bid

did not pose a conflict of interest.

“If he were to be elected mayor,

that would probably be an issue at

that time,” s aid Mears, noting that

the ethics ordinance applies to

elected officials.

Michael Lord, executive direc-

tor of the State Ethics Commis-

sion, said regulations bar lobby-

ists from fundraising for candi-

dates for state offices, but that

exemptions exist when lobbyists

are fundraising for themselves.

Lucchi, a civic activist whose

family moved to Bowie when he

ern L. Baker III (D) and state

Sens. James C. Rosapepe and Mel-

ony G. Griffith, both Democrats

from Prince George’s.

His firm has represented the

city of Bowie since 2009. Its con-

tract this year was for $52,000,

said Assistant City Manager Dan-

iel Mears. Some critics have ques-

tioned whether Lucchi should

have kept his contract with the

city while he campaigns and

whether he is too connected with

ty’s school board that clashed
with Lucchi, the board’s former
lawyer.
Lucchi, a partner at O’Malley,
Miles, Nylen & Gilmore, has con-
nections with a host of politicians
through his lobbying work in
Annapolis. His donors include
former Maryland governor Mar-
tin O’Malley (D), former Prince
George’s county executive Rush-

BOWIE FROM B1

BY KEITH L. ALEXANDER

A former Walter Reed pharma-
cist who told authorities she acted
in self-defense when she fatally
shot her husband in the back of
the head in 2013 was sentenced
Friday to 7 ½ years in prison.
After a nearly f our-week trial in
March, Diana Lalchan, 33, was
convicted of voluntary man-
slaughter while armed in the
March 28, 2013, shooting of her
husband of nearly five years in
their Southwest Washington con-
dominium.
Lalchan told authorities that
she was afraid Christopher Lal-
chan, 36, was going to kill her.
During her Superior Court trial,
she took the witness stand, sob-
bing at times, and testified that
her husband often wrapped his
hands around her throat during
fits of rage. But then, she said, she
decided t o fight back.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia
Wright argued i n court Friday that
Diana Lalchan had fabricated the
domestic abuse allegations. She
said Lalchan wanted to leave her
husband but did not want to pay
alimony or shame her parents a nd
wanted to live a new, s ingle l ife as a
lesbian.
Wright said t here was n o sign of
a struggle and no 911 call from

Lalchan before the shooting ask-

ing for help and no hospital or

police records of abuse.

“She learned her true sexual

identity later in life and was in an

environment that did not allow

her to be her true self. So she

developed a plan, all of which led

to this shooting,” Wright said.

Wright said she initially be-

li eved that L alchan was a victim of

abuse. She said she changed her

mind after examining some

52,000 emails between Lalchan

and friends in which, Wright said,

Lalchan hatched a plan to get out

of her marriage.

The trial jury rejected the origi-

nal charge of first-degree murder.

Jurors said they believed Lalchan

had been abused but concluded

that her reaction w as extreme.

Diana L alchan fired t hree shots

at her husband that evening.

Wright argued that Christopher

Lalchan was not s truck by the first

two shots but took cover. It was

while he was on the floor, Wright

said, citing the trajectory of the

bullet that struck him, that Diana

Lalchan fired the f atal s hot.

Lalchan, as she did during her

sentencing Friday, sobbed on the

witness stand while talking about

her l ife with her husband.

She said she lost “the only per-

son I had in the world” that day.

“He was all I had. He was my

world,” s he said. “But he lost con-

trol of himself. And because I did

not love myself, I believed I de-

served the t reatment I endured.”

After the sentencing, Christo-

pher Lalchan’s family expressed

disappointment at the sentence.

“We did get justice,” his mother,

Pearl, s aid.

“This was m ore painful than the

trial,” Christopher Lalchan’s

brother Mark added.

They b oth flew i n from Trinidad

in the Caribbean for the hearing.

Addressing members of the L al-

chan family, Judge Ronna L. Beck

said she was “sorry” for their loss,

which she said she was sure was

“immeasurable.”

But Beck also said that in 24

years on the bench, she had never

received so many letters of sup-

port on behalf of a defendant in a

murder case, nodding to the doz-

ens o f family m embers and friends

sitting on one side of the court-

room.

Although prosecutors asked

Beck to sentence Lalchan to at

least 1 5 years, the j udge s aid such a

lengthy sentence w as not warrant-

ed. L alchan h ad to be sentenced to

at least five years in prison, which

was a mandatory minimum for

using a gun during a crime of

violence in t he District.

Beck praised Lalchan for work-

ing with women in the jail, as her

attorneys described. “I hope you

continue to be a positive force a nd

a major c ontributor to other wom-

en. You have good qualities and

considerable talents and can be a

positive role in the community,”

the j udge said.

Before finalizing her sentence,

Beck asked Lalchan’s attorneys

whether they wanted Lalchan

sent to a particular prison so she

could reflect that in her recom-

mendation to Federal Bureau of

Prisons. One of Lalchan’s attor-

neys requested a prison in Con-

necticut.

Then Lalchan’s attorneys re-

quested that their client be given

the opportunity to hug her elderly

grandmother, who came f rom Ta i-

wan to attend the hearing. Beck

referred the request to the U.S.

marshals in the court, who reject-

ed the request.

But a fter the m ajority of specta-

tors had left the courtroom, and

after Beck left the bench, a U. S.

marshal allowed Lalchan’s grand-

mother to be escorted to the cell-

block to greet the prisoner, two

people familiar with the incident

said. A spokesman for the U.S.

Marshals Service s aid he was look-

ing into t he matter.

kei [email protected]

THE DISTRICT

Former pharmacist sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison in husband’s fatal shooting

Bowie prepares for leadership transition, with development being a key issue

Metro inspector general warns agency of new issues with Silver Line project

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST

A worker continues construction July 11 at the Innovation Center Metro station in Herndon, part of the transit agency’s Silver Line

extension. Metro will operate the line, but its construction is being overseen by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

KATHY BRADY

Dennis Brady has served on the

city council for 22 years.

BILL HART

Timothy Adams runs Systems

Application & Technologies.

FAMILY PHOTO

Leonard Lucchi is a longtime

lobbyist in Annapolis.

KEITH L. ALEXANDER/THE WASHINGTON POST

Diana Lalchan, foreground, had asserted during her trial that she

shot her husband because he had been violently abusive to her.

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