Florida Man Pleads Guilty to a Fraud Charge

   ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that HECTOR ORTIZ, 49, of Orlando, Florida, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, to committing wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

            Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley E. Tyler, who handled the case, stated that the defendant from in or about September 2011 and continuing thereafter until on or about January 1, 2012, in the Western District of New York, devised a scheme to defraud Sweeteners Plus, Inc. in Lakeville, N.Y.  Specifically, the defendant attempted to obtain $7,862,500 from Sweeteners Plus by making multiple false and fraudulent representations in relation to a contract to deliver 12,500 metric tons of refined sugar.

The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent In Charge Brian P. Boetig, and Postal Inspectors with the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector In Charge Shelley Binkowski.