Jury finds Williston man not guilty

Published on Sunday, September 5, 2010 7:12 AM MDT

A jury in U.S. District Court in Billings found former Basic Energy Services employee Stuart Kringen, Williston, N.D., not guiltyWednesday on a felony charge of mail fraud. Prosecutors alleged Kringen was part of a false invoicing scheme that took hundreds of 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 from several local businesses for goods and services that 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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