A Princeton man and an Elkton man who pled guilty earlier this year to stealing over $350,000 from a Lyon County grain elevator company were sentenced to probation in U.S. Federal Court in Paducah late last month.
72-year-old Bobby Joe Merrick, of Princeton, and 61-year-old Gerald Kent Kingston, of Elkton, both pled guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud.
Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell sentenced both men to two years probation on August 24. Federal prosecutors said Kingston was formerly employed as a manager at Gavilon Grain which operates a grain elevator in Eddyville. Merrick is a local farmer who contracted with Gavilon Grain to sell his corn, wheat, and soybeans at the grain elevator. Between September 19, 2016, and May 5, 2021, Kingston and Merrick devised a scheme to defraud the grain elevator by creating multiple-scale tickets for each truckload of crop that Merrick delivered. Kingston then electronically submitted the scale tickets to Gavilon Grain’s headquarters in Nebraska for payment. The scheme caused Merrick to be paid twice for each truckload of crop he delivered.
During court proceedings, Kingston and Merrick admitted that Merrick was paid $354,870 for phantom loads of the product. After receiving payment from Gavilon Grain, Bennett says Merrick would make a cash payment to Kingston.
In addition to the probation, each man was ordered to repay $177,435 within 30 days to Gavilon Grain.
