(KNOXVILLE) Three years ago FBI and IRS agents descended on the Bearden headquarters of one of the largest privately held companies in America - Pilot Flying J.
Today, 10 former employees of the hometown fuel giant are poised to testify - having pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges - and eight more - including former key members of the management team - are awaiting prosecution in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.
Over the three years since the April 15, 2013 raid, Pilot also has paid some $85 million in court to settle claims by trucking company customers and a $92 million fine to spare the company from being put on trial itself.
Federal prosecutors allege Pilot employees, many on the sales force, cheated trucking customers out of millions of dollars in what were promised as diesel fuel rebates. Pilot says it since has changed the way it handles fuel rebates.
The soonest any of the eight defendants could face trial is October 2017. A federal grand jury returned indictments against them in February.
The eight who have been charged: former President Mark Hazelwood, 57; Scott "Scooter" Wombold, 56, vice president of national accounts, and John ‘Stick” Freeman, 52, former vice president of sales; account rep Katy Bibee, 35; account rep Heather Jones, 45; Vicki Borden, director of wholesale and inside sales, 62; Karen Mann, 57, regional account representative; and John Spiewak, 48, regional sales manager in Ohio.
CEO Jimmy Haslam has not been charged and as maintained he knew nothing about the alleged fraud scheme.
MORE: A federal grand jury in early February indicted eight former and current Pilot Flying J employees
A conference to check on the status of the cases is set for Aug. 16 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton.
The government has gathered a massive amount of evidence, which is one reason why trials are scheduled so far in the future. Information has been seized from locations in Tennessee, Iowa, Kentucky and Texas.
Prosecutors say the material consists of about five terabytes of data, which attorneys say “translates to tens or potentially hundreds of millions of pages,” according to court records.Cooperating witnesses also have secured hours of secretly recorded meetings and conversations between workers and informants.
The government alleges those conversations showed Pilot sales employees actively talking about ways to take advantage of trucking customers and the fuel rebates they paid.
