BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A jury has sentenced a Virginia man to three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his part in a scheme to defraud a Montana coal mine of more than $10 million.
John Howard Boothe Jr. was also ordered Tuesday to pay $285,000 in restitution to Signal Peak Energy LLC, the company that owned the mine near Roundup, The Billings Gazette reported.
Boothe pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a scheme with two other co-defendants between 2013 and 2018 to overbill the mine and conduct fake sales for equipment that wouldn’t be delivered.
His attorneys Dennis Lee and Aaron Gillespie did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday night.
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