A man received a 21-month prison sentence Friday for defrauding a family-owned business of $600,000 while he lived in Carlsbad, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Derek Gleeson, 51, an information technology consultant, pleaded guilty to wire fraud.
He pleaded guilty in federal court in November.
Gleeson admitted that he “charged the small business for IT hardware, software and services that he never supplied,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. “Gleeson also admitted that he ginned up or altered invoices in an effort to substantiate the fake charges he submitted to the company.”
According to the plea agreement, the New Jersey company became suspicious and confronted Gleeson about the charges.
He then installed pirated software on the company’s servers, “all to make it appear that he had purchased and installed legitimate software, when in fact he had not.”
Prosecutors said Gleeson continued the fraudulent activities for four years while he lived in Carlsbad. According to the office, Gleeson also lived in Round Rock, Texas.
U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said that for years “this defendant took advantage of a position of trust that gave him full access to a small business’ IT system.”
Grossman also credited prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents for their “excellent work” on the case.
– City News Service
