Brett Lattin, Mail and Wire Fraud, Wyoming 2006

GRIMY TIMES EXCLUSIVE: A former Construction Supervisor from Wyoming has been forced to pay back nearly a million dollars in restitution after being convicted of mail and wire fraud in a scheme that defrauded Marathon Oil Company.

Brett Lattin, a former supervisor at Marathon Oil Company, was sentenced on June 18, 2010, in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming for Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud, in violation of Title 18 of the United States Code.

According to court records, Lattin and his co-defendant worked together to defraud Marathon with kickbacks, false receipts, and failing to complete the work required to remedy the reservoirs. The scheme was perpetrated in 2006, when Lattin falsely represented himself to Marathon Oil Company as a civil engineer.

U.S. Attorney Darin Smith praised the efforts of Assistant United States Attorney Jasmine Peters, who handled the enforcement matter, saying ‘We recovered almost a million dollars in this case simply because of the tenacity and hard work of Assistant United States Attorney Jasmine Peters who handled this enforcement matter.’

The Financial Litigation Program (FLP) of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming was instrumental in collecting the restitution, using a variety of collection techniques to locate and sell Lattin’s house and personal property.

The FLP has been successful in collecting restitution for up to twenty years after the conviction or time-served, according to U.S. Attorney Smith.

As a result of the successful collection efforts, Lattin will be forced to pay $868,000 to the victims of his crimes, a fraction of the $2,450,000 in restitution he was originally ordered to pay.

Related Federal Cases