A worker at a gas station in Arkansas has been found guilty of using drivers’ credit cards to charge them for fuel they never purchased. Over the course of only a few years, he racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent fuel charges.
The fraudster worked at the Horizon Food Mart in Prescott Arkansas and took credit card information from drivers who purchased fuel for Ryder Truck Co. He then used that information to make further fuel charges, counting on the size of the company and volume of fuel purchases to prevent anyone from noticing the extra transactions.
During his sentencing hearing on Wednesday he was ordered to repay almost $600,000 to the Ryder Truck Company and serve a six month stint in federal prison. Upon his release he will serve an additional six months of home detention.
The judge presiding over the case said that the fraudster’s lack of a previous criminal history and his cooperation with authorities helped to reduce the severity of his sentence.
Next Story: Hundreds of Phony Medical Cards Taking Drivers Off The Road
Source: thetrucker, katv, arkansasonline
Ray says
Much too lenient.
jeff says
6 months at a federal penn.i’ve delivered to a federal facility,outdoor pool,tennis courts,like going on a vacation.
Mitchell says
Except, these vacationers don’t have to pay money for the resort… We do.
bob14605 says
i dont know what fed penn you where at but the few that i was in never had a swimming pools,but i do agree his time is to lenient he should get more time
Donald Strong says
I’m quite sure that the sentence also included a felony conviction that’ll undoubtedly ruin any chance this guy ever had of obtaining any kind of meaningful employment.
Russ says
Meaningful employment? Come on, the guy is a cashier at a fuel stop, do you really think he was ever going to get “meaningful employment” anyways? Perhaps he can become upper management at Flying J and advise on new scams to fleece trucking companies
Ray says
So he has more reason to be a thief.
Tom says
Being a gas station attendant in Arkansas isn’t exactly a very “meaningful job.” The worst thing that will happen to him is he won’t be able to possess a firearm for the rest of his life. 6 months in a Federal Camp can be almost like a vacation.
Christine Baker says
I’m surprised to see how many truckers know what life in a federal prison is like.
And considering that trucking isn’t exactly rocket science, it’s a bit odd to see these comments about “meaningful” employment.
Ray says
Heh, good points. +1 like.
Fred913 says
Ryder Trucking financial office should have been on top of that a long time ago.
Helen says
I am never surprised at how many people think that driving a truck isn’t a thinking job. I’m not going to go into all of the things a trucker has to know and be able to do. I know several people that decided to be a trucker, then found out what it really entailed, and couldn’t do it. There are many of us who have a college education. Unless you’ve been out there, you have no right to judge the difficulty of the job.
Dave says
Sam Walton honed his business acumen as a truck driver.
Kelly says
Lol Christine,
May be dependent on the aspect of trucking you’re involved in, or not? While it’s not for everybody and parts of it can be simplistic. Don’t confuse simple with easy. Even the most mundane duty of just being a drop and hook, involves responsibility, being responsive, awareness, etc.
Get into the more specialized areas, chemical, food grade, bulk or liquid, which I do hazmat tanker. Three that I have admire are livestock haulers, reefer divisions, and big oversize or heavy haul. None of which I’ve done. However if you don’t see these as being meaningful employment in the transportation industry, your statement could appear to be a bit more odd.
I believe any of us with a couple or more years of experience in our specialized area could get the cashiers job, which is meaningful by the way. Most stores till use people even if they have self checkout. Would be proficient at it within a few days. I’m old school and could give correct change without a register or calculator to do the math.
How many newbies could be load livestock valued near 100K, drive it hundreds of miles in intense heat or cold, intact, and get it unloaded safely? Pick up or deliver perishable goods while having to get their rest with that unit cycling all hours of the day and night, better person than I when it comes to resting through that. Sitting for days at a time to get loaded and hours to get unloaded. The average person has their hands full enough driving a car these days. Could you put them in a tractor pulling an 18 axle trailer, or a wind turbine tower section or blade, construction equipment, and have it completed without incident?
As far as rocket science and I know it’s just a term bandied about loosely, it hasn’t been necessary for my survival that I’m aware of. Our tax dollars support it though, would rocket scientists exist without that, and if so, for what purpose? I see each position here as meaningful, others must also, or they wouldn’t exist.
josh says
I’d like to see Christine secure 48,000 pounds on a flatbed, throw tarps, secure the tarps so they’re not flapping in the wind, then manage to be 1200 miles away on time for the unload appointment. .. shower and eat in truckstops, be away from her family for weeks at a time trying to raise children over the phone and everything else this “less than meaningful” jobs entails. ..
Estelle says
Sure not…. leave the state and go elsewhere, he will get a job where no one will know him.
These violators learn much of this in jail… so where and what are the PO doing about it?
Nothing of course.
royce says
He had to have help from book keeping somewhere.if I even miss my daily granola bar it shows in records. So how was this not an inside job? Who would keep stealing after a few thousand dollars without help? I cry foul. Foul I say, foul , foul. And ryder corp is well known for its minimum wage workers integrity. s’ cuse me I fell outta my chair because I was laughing so hard. Foul and pshaw. Foul and pshaw.
John says
Royce, you’re right. Somebody in bookkeeping was in a position to catch this maggot. But, ah, Royce, this is Arkansas we’re talking about. There’s a thousand ways to steal and crooks know most of them. If bookkeeping wasn’t looking for the indicators, it’d be easy to miss. I’m just not ready to convict the home office over this. All they saw was fuel sold equaled revenue received and were happy with that. Stupid, maybe, but co-conspirators? I can’t get that far on the evidence presented in the story. I’d stop at that Prescott mini-mart if I needed to fuel, but with this information in hand, I’d look real close at the receipt. No, if anyone is to blame, it’s the bookkeepers at Ryder. Each truck uses so much fuel for so many miles. Any variation in that computation should have turned on every gumball light and siren in the office. But I don’t think your comment is wrong, Royce. It’s just another legitimate way to look at it. Stay safe out there, bro!
John S says
Yeah, serve that 6 mo in a county lockup, in the max ward!
Jerry says
Ok, so, whether more people were involved, the question I have is:
If he charged for more fuel than Ryder paid for, the mini mart would land up with more fuel on hand than they “sold”. So, was he “re-selling” this fuel to other people, so that what the mini mart was ordering, and what was in the tanks, a match?
Or, did he just pocket the money? He may not have had access to the fraudulently charged money, only the fuel, which he would have to somehow resell. Maybe he did this by pocketing cash fuel payments, but still giving these other purchasers fuel.
Sounds like he had some smarts to pull this off as long as he did.
j
Two Thermos says
How is this guy ever going to pay that back? Waaaaaay too lenient.
tas says
He ain’t. Felony charge =No meaninful employment. If he has enough gumation to start his own business he might. But I think this doubtful.
bob14605 says
i don’t know why all you think that if you have a felony that you cant get any good jobs,i have 2 big felonies did my time in both state and feds,the hard time i had was no recent experience most companies didn’t even care about the felonies