Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 21, 2008
Contact : Sue McKinney
McKinnon Sentenced to Federal Prison
Maxwell Wood, United States Attorney announced that George McKinnon was sentenced on October 16, 2008 before the Honorable Hugh Lawson, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Georgia after the Court accepted McKinnon’s plea of guilty to Counts One and Two of a superseding information.
Count One charges Conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371, in connection with Title 18 United States Code, Section 1343 (wire fraud) and Title 18 United States Code 1956 (a)(1)(B)(I) (money laundering).
Count Two charges Making a false, fictitious or fraudulent claims in violation of Title 18 United States Code 287.
McKinnon was sentenced to 60 months without the possibility of parole followed by three years of supervised release. McKinnon is ordered to make restitution in the sum of $4,000,050.00 jointly and severally to UAP of Moultrie, Georgia. He is ordered to pay $1,357,572.00 to USDA Farm Services against which $369,059.94 has been offset by the Tobacco Transition Payment Program leaving a balance of $988,512.00. The defendant will be credited against that balance by future installment payments by tobacco payments. The Court stated that the defendant will pay $988,512.00 to the Farm Services Agency in Douglas, Georgia; defendant shall not possess any firearms, he shall provide financial information, defendant is prohibited from incurring new credit charges or lines of credit; defendant shall cooperate in the collection of DNA, and shall pay a Mandatory Assessment of $100 for each of the two counts. The Court will allow voluntary surrender and the sentence is to begin January 1, 2009.
Assistant United States Attorney Jim Crane prosecuted the case and the investigation was conducted by Special Agents with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division.
Reginael McDaniel, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation stated, “IRS-CI together with the law enforcement community are united in the endeavor to investigate individuals who choose to enrich themselves financially by participating in fraudulent financial transactions.”
Questions concerning this case should be directed to Sue McKinney, Public Affairs Specialist, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2602.
