Four more former employees and executives at Pilot Flying J have entered into cooperating plea agreements and will plead guilty to charges related to their involvement in the now infamous fuel rebate scam. One is John Freeman, the alleged architect of the scheme.
If you’re new to the industry or want a refresher on the scheme, you can read up here.
Freeman was the former Vice President of Sales at Pilot Flying J. The three other new guilty pleas will come from John Spiewak, former regional sales manager; Vicki Borden, former direct sales group supervisor; and Katy Bibee, former sales representative. All four have struck cooperating plea agreements.
A statement from Pilot Flying J said that the company is “saddened by the news” that four more former staffers have agreed to enter guilty pleas, saying “it is Pilot Flying J’s commitment to be a great partner to trucking companies across North America, always focusing our undivided attention on the best interests of our customers, team members and business.”
The company has paid out $92 million in penalties to the government, and a settlement of $85 million to members of the class action suit brought against them.
Even with his plea agreement, Freeman still faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000 for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.
These four now join 10 other former Pilot Flying J staff who have agreed to plead guilty to a variety of crimes, but there are four others who still have a trial date set. Among them is Mark Hazelwood, President of Pilot Flying J.
Hazelwood faces charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, but also faces additional charges of witness tampering after he allegedly instructed employees to mislead or refuse to cooperate with the federal investigation. Hazelwood is the highest-ranking former PFJ executive so far to be charged with a crime, and was allegedly actively involved in training salespeople to use the fraudulent system.
It seems that Freeman has been offered a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony against Hazelwood. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that according to the Assistant U.S. Attorneys prosecuting the case, Freeman will be a “key player” in showing that the fuel rebate scam was pervasive in the company and that Hazelwood was looking to expand it.
There is an email from Freeman to Hazelwood confirming that an expansion of their fraudulent system was possible. Proving that he intended to expand the program, Hazelwood replied “Awesome.”
For Hazelwood and the others, a trial date was set for October 31th, 2017 after the defense received a postponement of 560+ days when they requested more time to prepare their case.
But despite evidence proving the pervasive nature of the scam and culture of greed at the company, one executive has avoided any criminal charges. CEO Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns and brother to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. With a total of 14 plea deals agreed to that are contingent on continuing cooperation, it’s possible that Haslam’s luck may run out.
Source: truckinginfo, washingtonpost, knoxnews, knoxnews, wbir, truckersreport, truckersreport
This could be a new show for American greed . I feel that the law should make examples out of them and in deterring others from doing this crime
They make plea deals, and the truckers get cheated, and the government makes millions in fines ? Sound about right ?
But they sad they we’re saddened by the news. Yeah right. They said so long poor suckers.
Truckers themselves weren’t being cheated, but our companies were. I’ve often thought Pilot must be a company of former drivers because they didn’t screw us, they screwed our bosses. And in the case of Western Express, they needed it – without Vaseline.
Pilot kept inventing new tricks to keep from honoring my driver loyalty points so I cut up my card and handed it back circa 2005 and to this day I don’t bother with Pilot points. So it is not accurate that Pilot didn’t screw drivers also. But as you see, govt only took action when millionaire customer filed complaints. No help for the little guys.
Yeah it does. I seem to recall the government running Philp Morris through the ringer because an executive made the comment “We could raise the price of cigarettes to $5 & people would still smoke them….” Average cost per pack is $2.75 nation wide, if your not paying that, it’s because the rest is taxes, pushing it well over $5 in most states.
Yup, same old crap.
They all should get 20 years including CEO the real crook
Jimmy Haslam has some pull apparently.
It would be interesting to see how much ( and it may be zero) money he has given to political interest.
They can hung one alive in my backyard
Just boycott fj and pilot truck stops, hit them where it hurts drivers. Then no matter what plea deal they take they still have to pay a lawyer. So why patronize places that knew what they were doing. Like life on the road isn’t expensive enough then to have jokers like this making it worse. I don’t think any of them deserve a plea deal
Yeah they were “saddened”, only because they got caught. Trucking is hard enough without having to deal with dishonest fuel vendors that get more greedy every year. It’s the trucker that pays the all this crap the government collects bigger fines (supposedly) than we truckers get reimbursed.
Is haslem wasn’t gov. He would be in jail also
I personally have had a better experience with pilet…flying j than loves…just sayin
How about a $1000 gift card to every trucker who has a pilot receipt for this year. Not much but would be a mice gesture.
They all need to rot in prison..,, we have children and a family to feed..,, some of us trucker stay out on the road for 6/8 weeks at a time like me…. they need to pay for the crime they committed…. and it should be some kind of restertution for truckers!
Another good reason not to do business with them.
I think every truck stop is bonding every driver out there.every thing you buy in the truck stop is close to double and sometimes triple the price in other stores..for instance the refrigerator you buy at pilot is like 180.00…I bought same kind just different brand…for 100.00 at menards..now tell me that’s not doubling your price..or bottle of shampoo..is something like 8 bucks.can buy same bottle in Walmart for 3 bucks..that’s what ya call boning the driver.
I hope Jimmy Haslam and Bernie Madoff have a wonderful time together for the rest of their lives. Capitalism is built in the self interest of the conumer/customer NOT the seller. You vote with your money people. If the seller is not selling the best product at the lowest price, you are spending your money at the wrong place. Don’t encourage these flimflam operators.
It’s no secret in the trucking business the governor of the state of Tennessee is one of the owners of the pilot and Flying J’s in the whole state and it’s well-known he’s been stealing money why is he not involved,
Apparently most of you guys are talking from feelings or thinking Instead of knowing. Like usual I might add. A company could only get ripped off IF the couldnt do simple math. If I do work for you and send you a bill you would make sure it’s right. Right? Whenever your in business it up to you to do your due diligence. I know what they did was wrong BUT not all the blame falls on flying J. And so far no connection to Haslam knowing it was going on. But all you broke diesel dummies who can’t figure out how to make a decent living out here are blaming him with no proof. Thats just as shameful. Just saying.