Fourth man charged in corn delivery scheme

Nevada Daily Mail

A Nevada man has been sentenced for his part in a fake grain delivery scheme resulting in the theft of $2 million from Cargill, Inc.

Lyle Tourtillott, 68, was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison on Tuesday. He is not eligible for parole, and is required to pay $1,012,000 in restitution.

Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, said Tourtillott pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud in September 2013.

According to Dickinson, Tourtillott was one of three men who approached Cargill feed mill scale operator Jeffrey Hobbs in 2002 about creating fictitious scale tickets for loads of grain that were not delivered. The fake tickets were then sent to Cargill for payment, and those involved in the scam are estimated to have made $2 million off the "ghost loads" of non-delivered corn.

Throughout the nine years of the scam, Tourtillott worked as a truck driver for his brother's company, T&T Grain, which had contracts with Cargill to deliver feed and grain to the Butterfield feed mill. During that time, Tourtillott paid kickbacks to Hobbs and received payments from Cargill for non-delivered items.

Undercover investigators were able to obtain audio and video recordings that confirmed Tourtillott's role in the fraud scheme.

Tourtillott is the fourth individual to be charged in the "ghost load" delivery scheme.

In March, Bob True Beisly III and Ronald Bunn received sentences for their involvement in the scam. Beisly, of Nevada, was sentenced to two years and 11 months in federal prison, with $559,616 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud in August 2013.

Bunn, of Deerfield, received two years and three months in federal prison. He was court ordered to pay $754,564 in restitution. Bunn entered a guilty plea in November 2013 to two counts of mail fraud.

Hobbs, of Exeter, Mo., was sentenced in November 2013 to two years and eight months in a federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $4,334,180 in restitution to Cargill.