No Verdict Yet in Pilot Flying J Fraud Trial
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - After more than three days of deliberations, a jury deciding the fate of the former president of the nation’s largest diesel fuel retailer and three subordinates in a plot to rip off truckers still had not reached a verdict Feb. 14.
Former Pilot Flying J President Mark Hazelwood, former Vice President Scott “Scooter” Wombold and former account representatives Karen Mann and Heather Jones have been standing trial since November in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga on charges including conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
Former Pilot Flying J President Mark Hazelwood (Michael Patrick/Knoxville News Sentinel)
The quartet are accused in a five-year scheme within the company’s direct sales division to lure trucking companies into buying diesel from Pilot Flying J with promises of discounts they never intended to fully pay, and lying to those firms about it.
RELATED: Former Pilot Flying J sales exec ordered up fraud 'manual'
Jury deliberations began Feb. 7 and resumed Feb. 12. The panel deliberated eight hours on Feb. 12, more than seven hours on Feb. 13 and for a full day on Feb. 14.
Pilot judge sends jury home, to return Thursday to deliberate on single count https://t.co/QmIZilxl8g via @knoxnews — Jamie Satterfield (@jamiescoop) February 14, 2018
The jury posed one question Feb. 12, asking U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier to define the word “voluntarily.”
That word is used in the conspiracy charges, and jurors have been instructed they must find each of the four defendants “voluntarily” joined and participated in the fraud scheme.
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Mann’s attorney, Jonathan Cooper, has argued Mann was simply doing the bidding of her bosses and, when she raised questions about changing discounts without telling the trucking companies, was told it was OK. He contended in his arguments Mann did not “voluntarily” join the conspiracy.
Fourteen former Pilot Flying J sales executives and staffers have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Two more were granted immunity. Pilot Flying J’s board has confessed criminal responsibility and paid $92 million in criminal penalties and another $85 million in lawsuit settlements.
The board also has been picking up the defense tab for Hazelwood and his three accused former subordinates.
Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam has denied any knowledge of the fraud scheme and is not charged.
