Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 4, 2008
Contact : Sue McKinney
SENTENCING WIRE FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING
Maxwell Wood, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced that NOLAN G. ROSS, age 40, resident of Valdosta, Georgia was sentenced on June 4, 2008 to a three and a half year (3½) prison sentence and three (3) years supervised release by the Honorable Hugh Lawson, Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. ROSS pled guilty on March 7, 2007, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
ROSS, a former manager of a United Agri Products (UAP), a subsidiary of ConAgra Foods, Inc., a large organization with numerous offices and warehouses in many states. The company develops and distributes crop production products and services to growers across the United States and Canada. ROSS managed a UAP distributing warehouse in Moultrie, Georgia, from 1999 to 2003. ROSS exploited a weakness in UAP’s electronic inventory ordering system’s internal controls to divert UAP products from the Moultrie, Georgia, UAP warehouse for his benefit along with his co-conspirator, George McKinnon’s benefit. ROSS provided the stolen inventory to McKinnon, who then sold the inventory to unauthorized third parties. ROSS attempted to hide the scheme from UAP by charging some of the sales to accounts of other UAP customers without their knowledge. ROSS also created false accounting and inventory reports which were provided to UAP's accounting office in Tampa, Florida.
ROSS received at least $420,000.00 to include cash and various expensive gifts, such as two Chevrolet Tahoes, a John Deere Gator, an English bulldog, a custom swimming pool for his home, and an All-Terrain Vehicle for his role in the scheme. The total amount related to the scheme was approximately $5,500,000.00.
McKinnon pled guilty on February 28, 2008, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. He is expected to be sentenced some time in July 2008.
Assistant United States Attorney Jim Crane prosecuted the case. Inquiries regarding the case should be directed to Ms. Sue McKinney, Public Affairs Specialist, United States Attorney’s Office at (478) 621-2602.
