Lexington Businessman Convicted of Obstructing Justice

FRANKFORT, Ky. - A Lexington businessman was convicted on Monday evening, by a federal jury sitting in Frankfort, of charges related to the obstruction of a federal investigation.

After approximately two hours of deliberation, following a five-day trial, the jury convicted 66-year old Timothy Wayne Wellman of 11 counts related to obstructing justice, aiding and abetting the obstruction of a federal grand jury, and aiding and abetting individuals in making false statements to the FBI.

According to testimony at trial, Wellman requested that multiple employees of CRM Companies (CRM) donate money to the campaigns of two city council members and then reimbursed them for their donation. He later asked the employees to give false information to the FBI, who was conducting an investigation into public corruption allegations, by encouraging the employees to lie about reasons for the reimbursement checks and, in some instances, asking them to create false documents (including ledgers and tax forms) to support their false stories.          

Wellman was indicted in June 2019.

“People simply cannot obstruct federal law enforcement or grand jury investigations, because such conduct undermines the foundation of our system,” said Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Through his actions, the defendant brazenly attempted to obstruct federal investigations into criminal conduct, by counseling others to lie and create false documents, concealing the truth from federal law enforcement and a federal grand jury. This disgraceful conduct cannot be tolerated. I commend the FBI for their hard work and dedication – without their efforts, this important prosecution would not have been possible.”

U.S. Attorney Duncan and James Robert Brown, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI, Louisville Field Office, jointly announced the jury’s verdict.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin Roth and Ken Taylor.

Wellman will appear for sentencing on July 1, 2020. For the most serious charges, he faces up to twenty years in federal prison.  He also faces a maximum fine of $2.75 million.  However, the Court must consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable federal sentencing statutes before imposing a sentence.