Crete Man Sentenced to 120 Months for 15 Counts of Wire Fraud

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Mark Martin Ackerman, 32, of Crete, Nebraska, was sentenced in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska, on August 30, 2018, for 15 counts of wire fraud.  The Honorable Richard G. Kopf, Senior United States Court Judge, sentenced Ackerman to 10 years of imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.  After his release from prison, Ackerman will begin a three-year term of supervised release.

Over the course of five years, Ackerman embezzled $1,400,000 from Vertical Horizons Contracting, Inc., a closely held corporation based in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Ackerman was the office manager for VHC for ten years.  Ackerman was ordered to pay more than $2,000,000 in restitution, with a portion of that money having already been paid to the Court.  Ackerman was further ordered to forfeit numerous luxury vehicles and his home in Crete.  It was determined that Ackerman purchased these assets with the stolen money from the small, family-owned business.  These assets will be sold for the benefit of victim restitution.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.