Marshalltown Man Sentenced to Prison on Mail Fraud Charge

DES MOINES, IA—United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt announced that on November 7, 2013, Michael James Allison, age 48, of Marshalltown, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison based on his earlier guilty plea to mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud his employer through the mailing of fraudulent expense reports for reimbursement. Sentence was imposed by United States District Judge John A. Jarvey. Judge Jarvey also ordered that Allison serve three years of supervised release following his release from federal prison.

Allison also will be required to pay restitution to the victim of his offense. Judge Jarvey will issue an order at a later date that will set forth the amount of restitution to be paid.

According to the written plea agreement, Allison, while in his position as chief financial officer and director of Finance of a regional subsidiary of Airgas Inc., mailed falsified expense reports to the region’s accounting office. Allison categorized personal expenses as business expenses and fabricated expenses on the reports. In one instance, Allison claimed he was entitled to reimbursement for approximately $9,000 for Ryder Cup golf tickets and expenses, when the tickets were for his personal use. Based on the evidence presented at the sentencing hearing, Allison obtained more than $400,000 as a result of his scheme over a period of approximately 10 years.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, following a referral from Airgas Inc., and was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.