Aug. 25, 2006

MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ROLE
IN CONSPIRACY TO STEAL
FROM NATION’S LARGEST FOOD MANUFACTURERS

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A Missouri man admitted Friday that he was part of a conspiracy to defraud some of the nation’s largest food manufacturers including Tropicana and Con Agra Frozen Foods.

Terry Lee Esteb, 62, Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He entered the plea during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia.

In his plea, Esteb said he worked as a sales representative for Advantage Sales and Marketing of Overland Park, Kan., during the time the conspiracy took place from 1983 to April 5, 2002. The company was a food brokerage business that obtained goods from food manufacturers ranging from household products to food, which it supplied to individual grocery stores including Tropicana and Con Agra Frozen Foods.

Esteb said he conspired with Gerald A. Brown, 42, Lee’s Summit, Mo., Augustine Salinas, 37, Gladstone, Mo., James S. Jirik, 39, Bonner Springs, Kan., and Ronald P. Forrest, 49, Independence, Mo. The conspirators used the U.S. mail to submit false paperwork to food manufacturers seeking payment for lost or damaged merchandise. The fraudulent claims stated that the money was owed to Ball Food Stores. When the food manufacturers issued checks and mailed them to Ball Food Stores, the defendants intercepted the checks and did not deliver them to Ball Food Stores, which is headquartered in Kansas City, Kan.

The conspirators also removed grocery items from Price Chopper and House grocery stores in metropolitan Kansas City for their own use or to sell to smaller grocers. They would issue store credits to store managers for items they removed and then submit a request to the food manufacturers for checks to cover the cost of the items. When the conspirators sold the items to smaller grocers, they pocketed the cash.

Esteb is set for sentencing for Nov. 22. He faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Among the other defendants:

– Salinas pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Sentencing is set for Oct. 2.

– Jirik is set for a change of plea hearing Aug. 28.

– Brown is set for a change of plea hearing Sept. 5.

– Forrest is set for a change of plea hearing Sept. 18.

Melgren commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Martin for their work on the case.

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