Federal prosecutors indicated on Tuesday that they will drop the charges against former president of Pilot Flying J Mark Hazelwood and two other employees.
The motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee will formally end the attempt to prosecute Hazelwood and former Vice President Scott “Scooter” Wombold and former account representative Heather Jones.
Read the full story
Stokes Nielson’s tweet about his podcast, “The Spirit of Humanity,” which raises questions about former Governor and possible U.S. Senate hopeful Bill Haslam relative to gas tax increases, goes viral with over a half million impressions within hours of its pre-release. As reported by The Tennessee Star, Stokes launched a new issue advocacy initiative called Stokes For Tennessee Freedom to provide a two-way dialogue on issues that could impact Tennessee citizens. Stokes’ first podcast of the new initiative, “The Spirit of Humanity,” was launched through Stokes & Friends on the Westwood One Podcast Network and featured international sensation Korean-born BTS, the “biggest new force in pop” according to Spotify, Dua Lipa, South Korean boy-band Day6, Chinese-Canadian actor, single and songwriter Kris Wu, and country superstar Tim McGraw. In a press release about the podcast, Stokes said that, per his normal practice, he tweeted out the podcast episode to his followers in a pre-release on Tuesday, February 26. Within hours, the tweet had gone viral with nearly 600,000 impressions, which “propelled the episode immediately into the Top 100 of Apple Music Podcasts,” reported Stokes. According to the award-winning songwriter and producer, Stokes, when he inadvertently encountered a fiery street protest in…
Read the full story
The legal defense team for Mark Hazelwood announced it filed a brief presenting the court with newly found exculpatory evidence in support of his request for a new trial in the case surrounding truck stop chain Pilot Flying J. The brief was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee by Walden Macht & Haran LLP on behalf of the former president of the truck stop chain. The attorneys claim the government used a “doctored and materially incomplete transcript of a critical recording.” Hazelwood was found guilty by a jury in February of three out of the four federal charges brought against him – including conspiracy to commit mail/wire fraud and witness tampering – in connection with his alleged role in a multi-million dollar rebate scam to bilk customers out of $56 million. He was found not guilty on the remaining charge of wire fraud. The Walden Macht & Haran press release said, “The new evidence reveals that the government, either intentionally or unintentionally, used a doctored and materially incomplete transcript of a secret and critical recording at trial, thus fundamentally misleading the jury. The doctored transcript was the single most important piece of evidence used by…
Read the full story
Former Pilot Flying J president Mark Hazelwood was found guilty by a jury on Thursday of three out of the four federal charges brought against him – including conspiracy to commit mail/wire fraud and witness tampering – in connection with his role in a multi-million dollar rebate scam to bilk customers out of a total of $56 million. He was found not guilty on the remaining charge of wire fraud. Additionally, former Pilot vice president Scott Wombold and former direct sales person Heather Jones were found guilty of a single count of mail/wire fraud and wire fraud, respectively. The trio will learn their sentencing on June 27th in Chattanooga. Pilot Flying J is the 14th largest privately held company in the United States. A majority of the company’s stock is owned by the Haslam family, which includes company founder Big Jim Haslam and his sons, company CEO Jimmy Haslam and Gov. Bill Haslam. Earlier this year, Pilot Flying J announced it had completed a deal to sell a controlling interest in the company to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway company. WBIR was outside the courthouse and spoke to Hazelwood’s attorney, Rusty Hardin. Reacting to the verdict, he told reporters, “We continue to believe he’s…
Read the full story
Pilot Flying J held training sessions to instruct employees on defrauding trucking companies of promised diesel fuel rebates, according to a secret recording played for jurors last week and covered by the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Four former employees of the truck stop chain are on trial in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga in connection with the scheme. A total of 18 former employees were charged in the scheme and 14 pleaded guilty. CEO Jimmy Haslam, brother of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and owner of the Cleveland Browns football team, has denied knowledge of the fraud and has not been charged, although a recording played for jurors earlier this month indicated he did know about it and endorsed it. Former sales director Vincent Greco was wired by investigators to make secret recordings, including of training sessions. The recording played in court last week featured a conversation between former vice president of sales Scott Wombold, one of the four currently on trial, and Jason Holland, an employee who was being introduced to the fraud scheme and expressing discomfort with it. The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports: Wombold suggested that if Holland wasn’t comfortable lying, he could instead be vague with his trucking firm customers. He used an…
Read the full story
Jimmy Haslam, CEO of Pilot Flying J, knew about a fuel rebate scheme at his company and “loved it,” according to what an executive said in a secret recording that jurors heard in court Tuesday. Haslam, brother of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and owner of the Cleveland Browns football team, has denied knowledge of the widespread fraud scheme and has not been charged. Four former employees of the truck stop chain are currently on trial in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga. In all, 18 former employees were charged in the scheme and 14 pleaded guilty. The fraud involved shorting trucking companies on promised diesel fuel rebates. “He knew – absolutely,” John “Stick” Freeman, former Pilot Flying J vice president of sales, said of Jimmy Haslam in the recording played in court Tuesday, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Federal prosecutors released a transcript of the recording after Pilot Flying J was raided by federal agents in 2013, but Tuesday was the first time the recording was heard publicly. The recording was made by Vincent Greco, then a sales director for the company, who wore a wire for investigators. Freeman said in the recording that former president Mark Hazelwood also knew about the scheme.…
Read the full story
Defense attorneys for the highest-ranking Pilot Flying J executive charged in a fuel rebate scandal say former president Mark Hazelwood was too busy doing his job to be involved in the scheme, reports the Knoxville News-Sentinel. That also goes for CEO Jimmy Haslam, defense attorneys say. Jimmy Haslam, who has not been charged, is the brother of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and owner of the Cleveland Browns football team. The truck stop giant is a Haslam family business. Gov. Haslam is no longer involved in its daily operations. The trial of Hazelwood and three others started last week on Monday in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga and is expected to last until at least late December. Former vice president of sales Scott Wombold and regional account representatives Heather Jones and Karen Mann are also standing trial in Chattanooga on charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Hazelwood and Wombold deny involvement in the scheme and Jones and Mann have said they simply followed orders. In secret recordings made by a sales employee for investigators, Hazelwood’s voice can be heard in talk of the scheme. Haslam’s voice is not heard in any recordings that have been released. Prosecutors say Pilot…
Read the full story
US District Judge Curtis Collier ordered the fraud trial of several Pilot Flying J ex-employees be delayed one week from October 31 to November 6, the Knowville News Sentinel reported Tuesday: A federal judge is delaying for a week the upcoming trial of the four former Pilot Flying J employees charged in a scam to defraud unsophisticated trucking firms. U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier on Tuesday ordered the trial of former Pilot Flying J president Mark Hazelwood and three others delayed from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, according to an entry in the federal court system’s database. The trial will be held in Chattanooga, where Collier is based. Unusually, the cause for the delay was not made available in the public record. The entry revealing the trial delay is labeled as a “notice of hearing,” but no such hearing notice appeared on the publicly available docket. The entry does not indicate that a hearing was held, only that the trial date was being changed. There is no request for a delay filed in the public database nor is there an order explaining the delay. However, the Knoxville News Sentinel noted that the judge mentioned his wife was having health issues that could…
Read the full story
The Associated Press is reporting that the board of Pilot Flying J, which is owned by the Haslam family, “has agreed to pay the ex-staffers legal bills,” in the upcoming fraud trial set to begin next week in Chattanooga: The truck stop chain controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has publicly distanced itself from former employees charged with defrauding customers. But court records show the board of Pilot Flying J has agreed to pay the ex-staffers legal bills. Pilot Flying J has been under scrutiny in recent years because of a diesel fuel rebate scam. Fourteen former staffers have pleaded guilty, while another four — including the company’s former president — are scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 31. Court records indicate a May 2013 “undertaking agreement” in which Pilot agreed to cover attorneys’ fees and other expenses. They agreed to repay the money if they are convicted or lose on appeal. The FBI began investigating the Pilot Flying J scandal back in 2012, around the time CEO Jimmy Haslam purchased the NFL’s Cleveland Browns for a little over $1 billion. Jimmy Haslam has not been charged in the scandal,…
Read the full story
Mae Beavers released the following statement today on the NFL protests, Randy Boyd, and the Haslam family’s support for the radical leftists pushing the un-American protests of the National Anthem. “Randy Boyd should immediately return any donations the Haslams have made to his campaign,” Beavers opened. “What’s more, Randy Boyd should refuse to accept any further financial support from the Haslam family,” Beavers said. Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the owners of the Cleveland Browns, have embraced the radical, un-American NFL protests against the National Anthem and the American Flag,” Beavers asserted. “The NFL remained silent when the Rams attacked law enforcement with their “hands up don’t shoot” demonstration, the NFL refused to allow the Dallas cowboys to honor fallen officers massacred by Black Lives Matter, and defying belief, the NFL even barred their players from honoring 9/11 victims,” Beavers said. “Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has not only refused to condemn the disrespectful actions of his players, he has encouraged them “The Haslams have been involved in a variety of business deals with Boyd over the years,” Beavers noted. “Governor Haslam appointed Randy to his position at ECD by and the Haslam family has been one of Boyd’s largest contributors.” “Randy Boyd needs…
Read the full story
Four former Pilot Flying J employees officially agreed Monday to plead guilty in the company’s diesel fuel rebate scam, reports WSMV Channel 4. John “Stick” Freeman, the mastermind of the scheme, along with John Spiewak, Vicki Borden and Katy Bibee, signed plea agreements filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. With Monday’s filings, there are now 14 sales staff members and executives who have agreed to confess and talk, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. Pilot Flying J, which is headquartered in Knoxville and operates hundreds of gas stations and convenience stores in the U.S. and Canada, is owned by the family of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. The billionaire CEO is his brother Jimmy Haslam, who also owns the Cleveland Browns. Their father founded the company in 1958. Jimmy Haslam has not been charged in the scandal, although the FBI indicated in testimony and court records that he was a suspect, according to the News Sentinel. He has denied knowing about the scam. Gov. Haslam has not been involved in running the company for many years but has an ownership share in the business. He has said his holdings were placed in a blind trust when he…
Read the full story
After Gov. Haslam ally and gas tax advocate State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma) voted “yes” in the House Transportation Subcommittee on Wednesday to send the governor’s IMPROVE Act to the full Transportation Committee which he chairs, The Tennessee Star contacted him and asked three simple, yet key questions pertinent to any further consideration of the gas tax: Can you confirm that 25% of Highway Fund user fees go to the general fund? Can you confirm that suppliers and retailers of both gas and diesel can hold the tax money anywhere from 20-51 days depending on the month before remitting to state per dept. of revenue fuel tax schedule?” Was there any particular reason these important and highly relevant issues were not raised prior to the subcommittee vote today? Rep. Doss did not respond to The Star prior to our deadline. As the House Transportation Committee which he chairs now takes the IMPROVE Act under consideration, Rep. Doss has an opportunity to bring the answers to these questions out in the open for public consideration. The answers to those questions are of great relevance to the public, since “[o]ne of the principles asserted by Governor Haslam in support of his IMPROVE…
Read the full story
State Senator Paul Bailey, Chairman of the State Senate Transportation Committee, has not responded to an inquiry from The Tennessee Star to explain the Tennessee Department of Revenue’s correction of his assertion that Pilot Flying J, the truck stop company owned and operated by Gov. Haslam’s family, will not benefit from holding on to the extra cash generated by the proposed gas tax increase for 20 to 51 days. The Tennessee Department of Revenue has corrected Sen. Paul Bailey’s statement regarding the timing of when fuel taxes must be remitted to the state. According to the Department of Revenue’s Communications Director, Kelly Cortesi, “The gasoline tax is imposed when the fuel is first imported into Tennessee. The diesel tax is imposed when the fuel is sold to the wholesaler. In either case, the taxpayer is the importer/supplier, and the return is due on the 20th day of the following month.” Sen. Bailey is the general manager and vice-president of Charles Bailey Trucking Company. The Department of Revenue was forwarded Sen. Bailey’s statement and was asked to confirm whether it was accurate in light of the fact that the Department’s website says that fuel taxes are not due to the state until…
Read the full story
The first test of Gov. Haslam’s proposal to increase the gas tax to fund road construction is scheduled to take place when the House Subcommittee on Transportation votes today on whether to move the bill to the full Transportation Committee. The Subcommittee has heard testimony from various supporters and opponents of the bill, but to date has not yet heard testimony from representatives of one private corporation that will be impacted by the proposed gas tax increase: Pilot Flying J, the company owned and operated by Gov. Haslam’s family. Questions have been raised by opponents about the potential conflict of interest posed by Governor Haslam’s proposed fuel tax increase if it benefits the privately held, family owned business Pilot Flying J, a distributor and a retailer of gas and diesel fuel. Critics of any fuel tax increase, whether it is the governor’s plan or the alternative Hawk plan, have questioned whether cash flow increases on the distribution side from collecting and holding the increased tax and/or increased profits on the retail side, could aid Pilot’s recovery from its $162 million payout related to the company’s rebate fraud case. The Tennessee Star asked committee members whether a representative from the ranks…
Read the full story
Gov. Haslam’s proposal to increase the gas tax by 7 cents per gallon and the diesel tax by 12 cents per gallon will have an impact on the family-owned Pilot Flying J company, which “operates over 650 travel centers in 43 states and Canada,” 31 of which are located in Tennessee, and is the 14th largest privately held company in the United States with $22 billion in annual revenues according to Forbes. “Located along interstates, the travel centers cater to both professional drivers and motorists selling gas, diesel, convenience store goods and fast food. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, the company was formed in 2010 when Pilot Travel Centers merged with Flying J to create a new company.In October 2015, the Haslam family announced that it had bought out the minority stake of private-equity firm CVC partners,” Forbes reports. Exactly what that impact will be has been the subject of scrutiny and debate. On the one hand, higher fuel prices are likely to have a dampening effect on the demand for gas and diesel fuel at Pilot’s retail facilities in Tennessee. That impact is not likely to be that great, since, as a percentage of the total retail price of these fuels, the tax…
Read the full story