Colorado energy company official pleads guilty to sales report fraud in Michigan
LANSING (CBS DETROIT) – The former owner of an oil and gas company has pleaded guilty in a case relating to a fraudulent sales report provided to Michigan officials, the state's attorney general office reported.
Frank Andrew Stevens, 62, of Colorado, is the former owner of Northeastern Energy Corporation based in Bow Mar, Colo., and the case involves the company's operations in Michigan. The Michigan attorney general's office that a plea agreement entered on Jan. 3 in 54A District Court in Lansing calls for Stevens to pay $15,000 in restitution to the state of Michigan; pending a delayed sentence of 11 months.
If the restitution is paid in full and he has no new contacts with the criminal justice system, then he will be sentenced on Dec. 18 in 55A District Court in Lansing on one charge of False Weights and Measures, which is a 90-day misdemeanor. He was originally charged in 2022 with one count of uttering and publishing a public record, one count of forgery and one count of oil and gas false statement.
The investigation involved a document submitted to state officials in 2016, claiming that Northeastern Energy sold 1,312 barrels of oil totaling $43,951.88. Instead, the attorney general said in her press release, the company sold 2,344 barrels of oil totaling $77,852.
The impact of the underreported sales, the press release added, defrauded the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
Stevens was offered the plea agreement after completing a 15-month federal prison sentence on tax evasion charges related to the company's business operations in Michigan.
"Accurate reporting and honest compliance are paramount to supporting EGLE's efforts in protecting our state's environment and natural resources," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in her statement.
The criminal investigation was handled by detectives from EGLE and the Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Investigation Section.
