CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Wood County man has been sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison after admitting to stealing more than $510,000 from his employer through fraudulent fuel purchases.
Jeffrey Jeffers, 35, of Williamstown, was sentenced Monday for wire fraud. He was also ordered to pay $510,465.19 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.
According to court documents, Jeffers worked as a truck driver for a large industrial gas provider between November 2022 and July 2024, delivering products from the company’s distribution facility in Wood County.
Although the company’s delivery trucks were typically fueled at the distribution facility, they were also equipped with fuel credit cards.
As part of his guilty plea, Jeffers admitted to creating fictitious service stations and opening online payment accounts under those names.
He then used his employer’s fuel credit cards to make more than 900 fraudulent fuel purchases, directing the payments to his fake service station accounts.
Federal prosecutors said the fraudulent transactions totaled $510,465.19 throughout his employment.
Jeffers also admitted that his normal delivery routes did not require refueling outside the company’s distribution facility.
United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gabriel Price.
United States Attorney Moore Capito announced the sentencing.
