NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
John L. Brownlee United States Attorney Jo Brooks Media Contact |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2250 FAX (540) 857-2180 |
January 7, 2008
FORMER GATE CITY PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR MONEY LAUNDERING
United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that RANDALL EUGENE HURT, 47, of Gate City, VA, was sentenced today in the United States District Court to twenty-seven months imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay $139,962.89 in restitution and ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his release from prison. HURT had previously plead guilty to one count of money laundering in relation to his misuse of his authority while the Public Works Director for the town of Gate City, Virginia.
According to evidence presented at an earlier hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee, HURT, had been an employee of the town of Gate City, Virginia for 25 years and assumed the position of Public Works Director in the summer of 2005. Shortly thereafter, HURT began using his authority as Public Works Director to purchase large amounts of copper pipe in Kingsport, Tennessee with town funds. HURT then took the copper pipe to several recycling companies and sold the pipe without the authority of the town and kept the profits for himself. Between July 12, 2005 and January 30, 2007, HURT misappropriated $139,962.89 in town funds.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Bristol Office of Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee of the United States Attorney’s Office in Abingdon prosecuted the case.