Pittsburg Man Sentenced to Probation

Conviction was for Wire Fraud

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that Robert E. Gulledge, Jr., 59, of Pittsburg, Illinois, was sentenced in the United States District Court in Benton, Illinois, to five years of probation with a special condition that he serve 30 weekends in jail and perform 30 hours of community service for his June 2, 2011, conviction on one count of wire fraud. In addition, the court ordered Gulledge to pay $810,000.00 in restitution, $750,000.00 in forfeitures to the United States and a special assessment of $100.

At his sentencing, Gulledge admitted that between April and August of 2009, he had engaged in a series of fraudulent credit card transactions which caused the Chevron Corporation to pay Gulledge’s business, Aeroflight Sales and Charter, for the sale of aviation fuel, when no fuel had actually been dispensed. Gulledge also admitted that the false credit card transactions that he had run or caused to be run, caused a loss to Chevron in the amount of $1, 425,059.99. Gulledge was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Benton for one-count of Wire Fraud on October 20, 2010. At the time of the offense, Aeroflight was located at the Williamson County Airport in Marion, Illinois.

The investigation was conducted by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ranley R. Killian.