The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a Monroe County man was sentenced today, in federal court in Scranton, by United States District Judge Malachy Mannion, to serve 70 months in prison on charges of bank fraud and assisting in the preparation of a false federal income tax return.
According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Brian Hewson, age 39, a resident of Canadensis, pleaded guilty to the charges in September, 2013. The 70 month sentence results from a 70 month sentence on the bank fraud charge and a 36 month sentence on the tax charge, to be served concurrently.
Hewson, who formerly operated a business known as Hewson Constracting, was charged after an investigation conducted by the United States Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. An Indictment was filed against Hewson in December, 2012, charging him with bank fraud. In August, 2013, an Information was filed charging Hewson with bank fraud and aiding the filing of a false federal income tax return. The charges against Hewson arose from his involvement in a scheme to defraud customers of his contracting company by misappropriating checks and other banking information belonging to the customers and fraudulently causing money transfers to be made to Hewson and others. Hewson was also held accountable at sentencing for three counterfeit checks, totaling $150,000, that he attempted to cash while on pretrial release. Hewson did not declare the income from his crimes on his federal income tax return. In addition to the prison sentence, Hewson was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $379,000.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Houser.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
