Timothy Wayne Wellman, Obstruction of Justice, Kentucky 2020

A Lexington businessman was convicted of charges related to the obstruction of a federal investigation.

Timothy Wayne Wellman, 66, was found guilty of 11 counts of obstructing justice, aiding and abetting the obstruction of a federal grand jury, and aiding and abetting individuals in making false statements to the FBI.

The charges stem from a five-day trial, which concluded with the jury delivering their verdict after approximately two hours of deliberation.

According to testimony at trial, Wellman requested that multiple employees of CRM Companies (CRM) donate money to the campaigns of two city council members and then reimbursed them for their donation.

He later asked the employees to give false information to the FBI, who was conducting an investigation into public corruption allegations, by encouraging the employees to lie about reasons for the reimbursement checks and, in some instances, asking them to create false documents (including ledgers and tax forms) to support their false stories.

Wellman was indicted in June 2019 and will appear for sentencing on July 1, 2020.

For the most serious charges, he faces up to twenty years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $2.75 million.

“People simply cannot obstruct federal law enforcement or grand jury investigations, because such conduct undermines the foundation of our system,” said Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edky/pr/lexington-businessman-convicted-obstructing-justice