Former Mountain Energy Manager Sentenced to Prison, Ordered to Pay $672K in Restitution for Defrauding Employer and Tax Evasion

PITTSBURGH - A resident of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to one year and one day imprisonment, $672,387.67 in restitution and three years of supervised release on his conviction of mail fraud and tax evasion, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

Senior United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed sentence on Kevin C. Conklin, age 56.

In connection with sentencing, the court was advised that Conklin was employed by Mountain Energy Company, Ltd., an energy company headquartered in Aleppo Pennsylvania that operated oil and natural gas wells in the Western District of Pennsylvania. As part of his employment, Conklin oversaw the day-to-day operations of Mountain Energy and managed the financial matters of Mountain Energy.

From January 2008 through December 2012, Conklin engaged in a scheme to defraud Mountain Energy and fraudulently obtained thousands of dollars of Mountain Energy’s funds. As part of the fraudulent scheme, Conklin used checks drawn on Mountain Energy’s business bank account to pay for personal expenses, including payments for Conklin' s home, personal credit card bills, college tuition for his daughter, an engagement ring for his son and automobile payments for a personal vehicle. Conklin falsely recorded in the financial database of Mountain Energy, the payee information and purpose of the Mountain Energy’s checks used by Conklin for his personal expenses. As part of the scheme, Conklin concealed from Mountain Energy’s tax preparer and the Internal Revenue Service, the expenditure of Mountain Energy’s funds to pay for his personal expenses.

Assistant United States Attorneys Mary McKeen Houghton and Paul E. Hull prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Brady commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Conklin.