Dathan Williams wasn’t shy when it came to bragging to his workers about how he was breaking the law.The owner of a Seattle drywall company boasted to his employees about how he shortchanged them on pay and dodged taxes to gain an edge in bidding wars for work on government contracts.

The subcontractor also told his employees – many of whom were in the country illegally – how he reported workers to immigration authorities after they complained they were being underpaid.

Unfortunately for Williams, one of his workers was an undercover Seattle police officer.In July, Williams pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court to two counts of second-degree theft and one count of filing false payroll documents. He faces up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine when he is sentenced later this month.

The Williams case is a high-profile example of the kind of payroll fraud that labor groups and state regulators say happens too often in Washington, despite the state being viewed as a model for detecting and prosecuting offenders