A jury in U.S. District Court in Billings found former Basic Energy
Services employee Stuart Kringen, Williston, N.D., not guilty
Wednesday on a felony charge of mail fraud. Prosecutors alleged
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thousands of dollars from the Texas company over three years.
The three-day trial that began Monday included a long list of
witnesses testifying for federal prosecutors and the defendant.
Kringen’s co-defendents, Douglas Pierce, Ricky Wolla, Larry Strouf,
David Pope and Jeremy Meyers were among the witnesses. Pierce, Wolla
and Strouf previously pleaded guilty to mail fraud and admitted to
creating false invoices with several local businesses
for goods and services that, in some instances, were never provided to Basic. Pope and
Meyers pleaded not guilty to misprision of a felony, which is knowing
a crime and hiding it, and are awaiting separate trials. Six
businesses agreed to full cooperation and pay restitution in
nonprosecution agreements with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Kringen, a former supervisor for Basic, testified Tuesday. In a story
by the Billings Gazette, Kringen “flatly denied false billing for
personal goods” when questioned by his attorney, Larry Jent, who said
his client never intended to defraud Basic.
Kringen denied receiving televisions, a snowmobile and a grill guard.
He said he “thought Basic was a good company to work for and had
planned to retire from it. He resigned instead,” the Gazette
reported. “Kringen acknowledged his signature on a false invoice but
said he signed stacks of invoices at a time.”
The jury deliberated for about three hours.
Sentencing still awaits Pierce, Wolla and Strouf who face possible
penalties of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least three
years supervised release. Sentencing for Pierce and Strouf has been
set for Nov. 18 and Dec. 1 for Wolla. They are currently released on
special conditions.
Basic Energy Services is also suing Pierce, Wolla, Strouf and others
in a federal civil fraud case that is presently on hold pending the
criminal case.
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