EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (CN) - A Wood River man admitted he cheated BP Amoco North America of $1.2 million and pleaded guilty to cheating on his federal income taxes. Ricki Lee Jones' plea agreement requires him to pay $1.2 million to BP Amoco and $2.4 million for taxes owed from 2002 through 2005.
Jones admitted that his company, Triad Industries, received money from BP Amoco to clean up refinery pollution, but spent it in other ways. BP Amoco removed Triad from the cleanup in 2005 after soil tests revealed pollution in areas that Triad had been paid to clean.
Jones must pay the full amount of restitution to BP Amoco and the federal government on the day of his sentencing, which is set for April 23. He faces up to 5 years in prison, but the sentence is expected to be reduced because he cooperated with prosecutors. His cooperation includes being willing to testify before a grand jury or at any criminal trial about criminal activity that he knows about, whether he was directly involved or not. Wood River is 20 miles north of St. Louis.
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