Canonsburg man sentenced for wire fraud
A Canonsburg man was sentenced in federal court to three years probation, with the first 12 months to be served on home detention, after he was convicted of wire fraud, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton announced Tuesday.
Barry Kent Peterson, 48, of Nancy Lane, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry.
According to information presented to the court, Peterson was vice president of Fullard Environmental Controls in Ford City when the company performed demolition services in 2007 for the U.S. Department of the Navy in Beaufort, S.C.
Peterson, along with another employee at Fullard Environmental Controls, defrauded the government by submitting false information to the Department of the Navy regarding the costs FEC incurred to perform demolition services.
Peterson, through FEC, defrauded the government for approximately $772,701.
As part of the sentence, McVerry ordered Peterson to forfeit that amount to the U.S. government.
McVerry said the sentence of probation, not imprisonment, was imposed, in part, because of Peterson’s “extraordinary family hardships” relating to the medical conditions of two of Peterson’s children.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General and Naval Criminal Investigative Service.