Two More Pilot Flying J Employees Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Fraud

While the Cleveland Browns prepare for the start of the season, owner Jimmy Haslam’s company, Pilot Flying J, continues to work through the wreckage that is their cost-plussin’ scandal and federal investigation.

On Monday, two more former employees – Scott Fenwick and Janet Welch – pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit fraud, bringing the total number of guilty ex-employees to seven.

Fenwick would simply blame the shortchanged rebates on the Pilot Flying J sales staff or a computer software error, causing the company’s clients anywhere from “$70,000 to $90,000 per month,” but that was only when a client began to ask questions.

He worked remotely from Salt Lake City, Utah as the company’s western regional sales manager. Fenwick worked under Vincent Greco, who became an informant for the FBI and recorded conversations that included Fenwick.

All seven ex-employees in the investigation pleaded guilty with the promise to cooperate in future prosecutions.

The big catch in all of this would, of course, be CEO Haslam, but he maintains his innocence and ignorance to the situation that unfolded. As the company settles with its clients, it seems more likely that Haslam could escape all of this relatively unharmed, despite Pilot Flying J’s tarnished reputation.