Local Business Owner Sentenced On Fraud Charges

ROANOKE, VIRGINIA – A former project manager at Breakell Inc., who pled guilty early this year to mail fraud charges, was sentenced today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke.

Jamie Carl Graham, 34, of Roanoke, Va., previously pled guilty to one count of mail fraud. Today he was sentenced to 41 months of federal incarceration and was ordered to pay $1,290,624 in restitution.

“Mr. Graham stole materials and labor from his employer for his own benefit, and the benefit of his friends and other area business owners,” United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said today. “This United States Attorney’s Office will continue to investigate and prosecute incidents of white collar fraud and bring those responsible to justice.“

Graham, while working as a project manager for Breakell, previously admitted to diverting labor and materials from his employer’s projects to other projects or for his own personal benefit. In order to divert the resources and hide the costs from Breakell, Graham forged change orders and miscoded expenses to and from various projects. As a result of Graham’s actions, Breakell used the US Postal Service and other commercial carriers to place orders with suppliers for the delivery of materials and sent payment to subcontractors for labor that Graham had wrongfully diverted.

The investigation of the case was conducted by Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony Giorno and Daniel Bubar prosecuted the case for the United States.