Sandusky men get probation in phony billing scheme

11/15/2017

Two Sandusky men who pleaded guilty to their roles in a phony billing scheme each were placed on probation Wednesday for four years.

U.S. District Court Judge Jack Zouhary also ordered that Anthony K. Jones and Robert A. Bellamy spend the first four months on location monitoring, meaning they may only leave their homes for work, medical appointments, or religious services.

Bellamy, 45, an auto mechanic, pleaded guilty in 2015 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud for submitting phony invoices to Owens-Illinois through Michael Conrad, the manager of O-I's former corporate retreat known as Castalia Farms. Bellamy would invoice O-I for vehicle repairs that either were not done or were done on vehicles not owned by O-I.

Conrad, 50, of Castalia, was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for his role in the multimillion-dollar scheme.

Jones, 61, also pleaded guilty in 2015 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud after admitting to having his employer, Kyklos Bearing International LLC, in Sandusky, pay false invoices to Construction Equipment & Supply through its owner, Scott C. Wagner.

Wagner, 53, of Perkins Township was found guilty at trial in July on numerous charges for submitting phony invoices to O-I and to Kyklos Bearing. He and Tom Walters, Jr., 42, of Swanton later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud for a similar scheme perpetrated against Sawyer Structural Steel Inc., in Holland.

Wagner, Walters, and George Dunlap III, the minority owner of Construction Equipment & Supply, all are to be sentenced Monday.

Judge Zouhary said he would issue an order of restitution after Dec. 14 when briefs from attorneys for all the co-defendants are due.