Thursday, March 11, 2010

Pair Sentenced to Federal Prison for Embezzlement Scheme

March 11, 2010 - NEW ORLEANS, LA—DONNA WHITE, age 46, a resident of Avondale, Louisiana and DANIEL KINNEY, age 44, a resident of Whitesville, Kentucky, were sentenced in federal court today before United States District Court Judge Carl J. Barbier, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten. Specifically, DANIEL KINNEY was sentenced to seventy-eight (78) months' imprisonment and DONNA WHITE was sentenced to forty (40) months' imprisonment. Both defendants were ordered to pay $12,714,896.24 in restitution. The defendants were also ordered to serve three (3) years of supervised release following imprisonment, during which time each will be under federal supervision and risks additional imprisonment should they violate the terms of release.

According to court documents, both defendants pled guilty on December 7, 2009. WHITE was employed by John W. Stone Oil Distributor, L.L.C., which operated a midstream and dock fueling business in the Port of New Orleans, and throughout Louisiana.WHITE’s duties included reviewing payments received and matching them with invoices, as well as reconciling overpayments by these customers. DANIEL KINNEY is the long time boyfriend of WHITE’s sister. From August 1995, and continuing until October 29, 2007, DONNA WHITE and DANIEL KINNEY devised a scheme to defraud J.W. Stone, by stealing checks and funds belonging to J.W. Stone, and depositing them into their personal accounts at Mississippi River Bank, Regions Bank, Kentucky Trust Bank, and J.P. Morgan Chase Bank.

Court documents indicate that WHITE and KINNEY embezzled approximately $12,700,000. The stolen funds were used to pay personal expenses, gambling and to fund a racing company, Premier Motorsports, which was run by KINNEY. Premier Motorsports, who owned race cars and competed in the NASCAR Busch Series, ARCA Re/Max Series, NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series as well as WKA Kart Racing events for the past 10 years.

The case was investigated by the Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and agents of the United States Postal Inspection Service. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jon Maestri.

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