A federal judge has sentenced a Las Vegas man to supervised release and six months of house arrest for his role in an embezzlement scheme to defraud the trucking company where he worked out of more than $112,000.
Judge Brian Buescher of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska on Wednesday ordered Johnny Bradford II, 52, formerly of Lancaster, California, to serve three years of supervised release and six months on house arrest after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud in September.
Buescher granted Bradford’s attorney’s motion for downward departure, meaning he imposed a sentence below the guideline range because while Bradford participated in the scheme, it was to a much lesser extent than his co-defendant. Bradford faced a maximum sentence of 20 years.
He and the previously sentenced co-defendant must pay over $112,000 in restitution.
What happened?
According to court documents, Bradford drove for the refrigerated division of Roadrunner from Feb. 28, 2017, through May 4, 2018, in Sarpy County, Nebraska.
At the time, Roadrunner used EFS, an electronic wire transfer service, to issue driver cash advances for equipment repairs and trailer washouts or to pay lumper fees to third-party workers to unload its trailers.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Bradford teamed up with another employee, Amy Shepherd, 44, of Wichita, Kansas, to carry out the elaborate scheme. Shepherd worked for Nebraska-based Roadrunner Temperature Controlled from July 2016 through June 21, 2019, as a customer service manager, a driver business leader manager and finally as a dispatch lead manager.
The pair were indicted by a federal grand jury in the Nebraska court in January 2022.
Prosecutors allege that beginning in February 2018, Shepherd used her position to fraudulently generate advances and enter EFS check codes, which she then sent to Bradford over 16 months.
According to court documents, Bradford would cash the checks at vendor establishments, then send part of the fraudulent driver advances back to Shepherd via Western Union.
In August 2020, FreightWaves reported that Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. had sold its reefer division, Roadrunner Temperature Controlled, to Laurel Oak Capital Partners.
Shepherd was sentenced to 18 months in prison in November after pleading guilty in August to one count of wire fraud.
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