Marion Man Pleads Guilty in Energy Efficiency Rebate Scheme

The owner of a local energy efficiency company who defrauded a utility company by making false statements on rebate forms and paying a kickback to an employee of one of the utility’s contractors, pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Dustin James Hutcheson, age 39, from Marion, Iowa, was convicted of one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering.  At the plea hearing, Hutcheson admitted that, from May 2017 through June 2018, he falsely represented to a utility company’s customers that Hutcheson’s company, Hutch Energy, LLC, could replace the customer’s current lighting at no cost to the customer on account of the utility company’s energy efficiency rebate program.  In truth, Hutcheson and other Hutch Energy, LLC, representatives made false and fraudulent representations to the utility company on energy efficiency rebate forms and associated invoices about the amount of money the utility company’s customers had paid Hutch Energy, LLC, for replacement LED tubes.  He also made further false and fraudulent representations to the utility company about the number of LED tubes that Hutch Energy, LLC, had sold to the customers of the utility company.  Hutcheson also forged the signatures of the authorized representatives of the utility company’s customers on the rebate forms.  By doing so, Hutcheson ensured that the utility company would mail a rebate check to the customer, for later transfer to Hutch Energy, LLC, because Hutcheson made it appear that the utility company’s customers had certified the truth and accuracy of the false and fraudulent representations on the rebate forms.  Hutcheson also admitted at the plea hearing that he had paid an employee of one of the utility company’s contractors $1,400 as a kickback for referring the utility company’s customers to Hutch Energy, LLC.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Hutcheson remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Hutcheson faces a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $1,500,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tim Vavricek and was investigated by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Postal Inspection Service. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 19-CR-32.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.