Two men from Elkton and Princeton pled guilty in federal court Wednesday to stealing over $350,000 from a Lyon County, KY grain elevator company.
U.S. Attorney Michael Bennett announced 61-year old Gerald Kent Kingston of Elkton and 72-year old Bobby Joe Merrick of Princeton each pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and five counts of wire fraud. As part of the plea agreement, they will be required to pay about $355,00 in restitution to Gavilon Grain of Eddyville.
According to court documents, Kingston was formerly employed as manager at Gavilon and Merrick is a farmer who contracted with Gavilon Grain to sell his corn, wheat, and soybeans at the grain elevator.
Between September, 2016, and May, 2021, Kingston and Merrick devised a scheme to defraud Gavilon Grain by creating multiple scale tickets for each truck load of crop that Merrick delivered. Kingston electronically submitted the scale tickets to Gavilon Grain’s headquarters in Nebraska for payment. The scheme caused Merrick to be paid twice for each truck load of crop he delivered.
During court proceedings, Kingston and Merrick admitted that Merrick was paid about $355,000 for phantom loads of product. After receiving payment from Gavilon Grain, Merrick would make a cash payment to Kingston.
Both men are scheduled to be sentenced on August 24 by U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell, who will determine any sentence each receives after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
The FBI investigated the crime.