LANSING – Detroit International Bridge Company owner Manuel “Matty” Moroun could see jail time after his company was found in contempt Thursday for its failure to complete required work on the new approach ramps to the Ambassador Bridge.

Wayne Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards found the company not only had not completed the changes to the new gateway required by the court, but appeared to have no intention to do so, The Detroit News reported.

The company will face sentencing on the charge in January, and it could see fines or company principals, like Moroun, sent to jail until the project is completed.

The project was intended to move truck traffic off local residential streets with new entrances to I-75 and I-96, but the company and the Department of Transportation have clashed over a number of items since the project began in 2008. Among other things, the company was ordered to move toll booths and a duty-free shop the court and the department said were in the wrong place.

Matthew Moroun, Moroun’s son and also a principal in the company, said in a statement that the ruling was purely political and a response to the company’s fervent opposition to the New International Trade Crossing, the proposed new bridge led by the government to connect Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

“The evidence from prior hearings has showed that the Ambassador Bridge has built the disputed portions of the Gateway Project pursuant to the parties’ agreements and Judge Edwards’ orders,” the younger Moroun said.

“We have been bracing for a backlash stemming from the Senate Committee’s rejection of the Governor’s bridge. Now we have it,” he said.

Among other things Moroun said played into the ruling was Edwards’ son’s efforts to be appointed to the bench.

Dan Stamper, president of the company, said the ruling would be appealed. “We invite the public to review DIBC’s actions over the past half year and MDOT’s inactions, as any such review will make it clear that DIBC is doing what it is supposed to do and MDOT is consistently being obstructive,” he said.

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