Sheridan Man Sentenced in Scheme to Defraud Oil Company

CHEYENNE, WY—A former employee of Marathon Oil Company was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson for his involvement in a scheme to defraud Marathon Oil Company. BRETT MATHEW LATTIN, 31, of Sheridan, Wyoming, received 41 months of imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,450,000 in restitution to Marathon Oil Company.

From November 2006 through October 2007, during which time LATTIN was employed as a contract supervisor for Marathon Oil Company, LATTIN devised a scheme to defraud his employer by steering contracts to MARK ALLAN MCGREGOR in exchange for a kickback; including, contracts for the repair of leaking earthen reservoirs used to contain water from coal bed methane gas production in Sheridan County, Wyoming. LATTIN used his position to approve payments to MCGREGOR totaling approximately $5,000,000, in exchange for MCGREGOR’S kicking back to LATTIN approximately $600,000 of that amount. Of the $5,000,000, LATTIN approved payments to MCGREGOR in the amount of $2,450,000 for work not performed as required to repair the reservoirs leaking coal bed methane water on to private lands in Sheridan County.

Sentencing for MARK ALLEN MCGREGOR is scheduled for July 20, 2010, before United States District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service.