A Canton man has been sentenced to federal prison for his involvement in a wire fraud conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas. Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. announced that James Derr, 55, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and received a 46-month sentence from U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle on March 18, 2025. Derr was also ordered to pay $2,615,585.93 in restitution.
Court documents revealed that Derr, an electrical contractor with J&D Electric, conspired with Rebekah Mitchell and Brittany Burton to divert equipment for personal financial gain. Between March 2017 and May 2021, Mitchell used her position at Schneider Electric in Athens to steal circuit breakers from inventory and direct their shipment to locations where Derr could collect them. Mitchell compensated Burton for using her role at J&K Storage in Flint to receive these stolen shipments.
Mitchell created fraudulent documentation within purchase order and logistics systems depicting fictional customers, facilitating the shipment of stolen circuit breakers to pre-agreed locations including J&K Storage on approximately 11 occasions during 2017 and 2018. Derr then sold the products and shared proceeds with Mitchell as part of their agreement. The actions of Derr, Mitchell, and Burton resulted in Schneider Electric incurring a financial loss of about $2,615,585.93.
On February 18, 2025, Mitchell was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution to Schneider Electric. Burton has pleaded guilty but is awaiting sentencing.
The case was investigated by the FBI Tyler Field Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Noble.
