Neal Sawyer Robbins, Money Laundering, Missouri 2016

A Joplin man has pleaded guilty to his role in a $5.6 million cooking oil scheme that involved stealing spent cooking oil from restaurants across five states and selling it to a recycling facility in Oklahoma.

Neal Sawyer Robbins, 29, pleaded guilty in federal court to money laundering, becoming the third defendant to plead guilty to charges related to the conspiracy.

Robbins’ co-defendants, Virgil Orin Bird, Jr., 52, and Brian Dale Fleming, 49, have also pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme. Bird pleaded guilty to money laundering on January 14, 2016, while Fleming pleaded guilty on November 19, 2015, to conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines and money laundering.

The scheme involved Fleming’s business, Tri-State Grease in Cabool, Mo., which was used to transport spent cooking oil that had been stolen from restaurants from November 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011. Fleming and his co-conspirators trained and encouraged others to steal spent cooking oil, which was then sold to recycling facilities for profit.

According to court documents, Fleming was paid $4,650 for the purported stolen spent cooking oil on July 11, 2011. He also admitted to sending his drivers to Memphis, Tenn., and other areas to steal spent cooking oil.

Robbins admitted to participating in the scheme by delivering spent cooking oil to a recycling facility, for which he was paid $1,400. He also paid $7,076 to individuals who assisted him in stealing the spent cooking oil.

Fleming, who has a prior felony conviction for distributing a controlled substance, is set to be sentenced on March 3, 2016, and faces up to 35 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $1 million and an order of restitution. Robbins and Bird each face up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $500,000 and an order of restitution.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abram McGull and Patrick Carney, and was investigated by the IRS-Criminal Investigation and other agencies.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Bird must forfeit $6,720 to the government, while Robbins and Fleming must forfeit $595,429 and $3,776, respectively, in proceeds from the illegal scheme.

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