The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1286276
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, September 9, 2020 A-5 EAST GIBSON Submit East Gibson news items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: egnews@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg /RandysAmericanaCafe 812-354-2004 OC man sentenced to 46 months in fraud scheme United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced Joshua W. Ead- en, 38, of Oakland City, was sen- tenced to 46 months in federal pris- on for orchestrating a fraud scheme that culminated in him pretending to be partially blind in a last attempt to delay his sentence, an attempt an FBI agent refuted in court. "Mr. Eaden was a trusted employ- ee by many in and around the Princ- eton community," said Minkler. "His greed got the best of him, and now his career of lies, deceit and fraud are over. This prosecution should remind those out there who defraud local businesses, that they will face real consequences." Joshua Eaden was the manager of the Best-One Tire and Service of Princeton, a retail tire and automo- bile service sales location in Princ- eton. Best-One Tire and Service pro- vided parts, supplies and services to Gibson County Coal. Included among the items Gibson County Coal purchased from Best-One Tire and Service were industrial heavy equipment tires and foam tire fill, a product made for inflating heavy equipment tires used in coal mining operations. Between Nov. 1, 2013, and March 4, 2016, Eaden devised a scheme to defraud Gibson County Coal by sub- mitting more than 300 false foam tire fill invoices using E-mail messages. Gibson County Coal then made pay- ments by mail to Best-One Tire and Service. Those payments, amounting to more than $189,000, caused the net profit percentage of Best-One Tire and Service to appear to go up to lev- els yielding higher bonus payments to Eaden. During this same time, Eaden in- cluded Bridgestone Firestone tire manufacturer in his scheme. They operated a program to reward per- sons for selling Bridgestone tires through retail sales outlets like Best- One Tire and Service of Princeton. As a participant gained more points within the program, the participant was eligible to receive bonuses. Eaden reported tire sales to Bridgestone that never occurred and cited invoices related to the claimed sales that did not involve the actual sale of any eligible Bridgestone tires, or substantially overstated the num- ber and type of Bridgestone tires sold. As a result, Eaden received bonuses as incentive rewards from Bridgestone for the fictitious tire sales. A jury returned its verdict on Oct. 24, 2019, finding the defendant guilty of 17 counts of wire and mail fraud. The sentencing hearing was delayed multiple times by Eaden based on claims that he suffered a medical problem after the trial that severe- ly damaged his vision and rendered him legally blind. The sentencing hearing was con- ducted on Sept. 2. Eaden appeared for the hearing wearing dark light-blocking glasses and told the judge his vision was substantially im- paired. The Court permitted the gov- ernment to present evidence disput- ing Eaden's claimed loss of vision. The government called an FBI agent to testify about surveillance conducted during the times Ead- en had requested delays in his sen- tencing hearing. The surveillance evidence included video recordings and photographs of Eaden playing golf and driving a golf cart. Golf course records reflected that Eaden had played golf constantly in 2020, including on days right after he asked the Court to delay his sen- tencing because of his loss of vision. A fter reviewing the surveillance evidence, the Judge enhanced Ead- en's sentence based on his obstruc- tion of justice for exaggerating and misleading the Court about his al- leged blindness. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Indiana State Police. "Mr. Eaden abused his position and the trust his company had in him for one simple reason – greed. To top that off, he thought he could play on the sympathy of the court for a light- er sentence by presenting a disabil- ity that was proven to be blatantly false, through the dedicated work of our agents," said Special Agent in Charge Paul Keenan, FBI Indianap- olis. "This sentence should send a clear message to anyone who would engage in such illegal activities that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will ensure you are held accountable." According to Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Shellenbarg- er and Kyle Sawa, who prosecuted this case for the government, Eaden must also serve three years of super- vised release following his sentence, and pay $244,683 in restitution. Sheriff seeking information on vehicle arson suspect By Janice Barniak In now-viral video footage, Roy Wilson can see a man lope up to his recently-bought vehicle, pour on ac- celerant and set it on fire—but his experience of the event at the time was the sound. He and wife Chelsea had just gone to bed when they heard two of the loudest whooshing sounds he'd ev- er heard. "We could feel it in the walls," he said. He ran out to the kitchen, and out of his sliding glass door, where neighbors were screaming "he's running down the street," but at that point Roy was disoriented and didn't know what was happening. He asked who, and went around the house to see his car engulfed in flames, so he gave chase. When he got to the intersection, he realized he was barefoot and in his pajamas, chasing an assailant, who had just set his car on fire, into an alley, and just as the danger hit him, so did the realization the man was out of sight. "There was not hide nor hair of him," Roy said. "It was like he dis- appeared." He and a neighbor drove around, but didn't find the man, who was a total stranger to him. "I've never seen this man. He's not familiar in any way, we've had no bad dealings with him. We keep to our- selves," said Wilson. "I was spooked for awhile." He said he and his wife are glad things weren't worse—it wasn't their house. He'd recently worked on the fuel lines in the car, so the gas tank was basically empty. In a residential area with children in the nearby home, they can be thankful no one was hurt. According to Wilson, the Gib- son County Fire Marshal, Gibson County Sheriff's Office and Oak- land City Police Dept are looking into the case. The suspect is a white male, last seen wearing blue jeans, a red shirt and a red hat at 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, at Trusler and Madison Streets. He may have singed eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair, along with light facial burns, as witnesses saw flash- back on the suspect as he lit the car on fire. The suspect did leave the gas can next to the car as it had ignited as well. Any information on this case can be given to Oakland City Police De- partment at 812-749 -9186 or GCSO at 812-385 -3496. Security footage caught a man setting fire to a vehicle in Oakland City Sept. 3. The fire caught the gas can and may have singed the arsonist Thursday in Oakland City. McConnell, Obert, Schleter join Board of Zoning Appeals By Janice Barniak The Board of Zoning Appeals will have Steve Obert and Bob Schleter, appointed by county commissioners, and Mike McCo- nnell representing the Area Plan- ning Commission, the board decid- ed in an APC meeting Wednesday morning. The county council and commissioners still have one ap- pointment each unannounced to the five-member board. The BZA takes applications for permits, holds hearings and listens to adjacent landowners about po- tential projects. McConnell was somewhat reluc- tant to take the two-year post, as he and his wife like to travel. "My wife said as I walked out the door 'don't you dare get on that BZA board,'" he said. "Do you always do what your wife says? " asked a fellow member. "Was she joking? " asked board member April Graper. The board will only meet as needed, first in an organizational meeting, and then only for those who appeal their zoning. Ken Beckerman said he couldn't take the post because he recent- ly sold his Hazleton property— he tendered his resignation to the APC. Stephanie McKinney, who does Flood Plain and Emergency Man- agement Agency work, is now al- so appointed zoning administrator. Applications for business grants open Grants are first-come, first-served Last week, the Indiana Of- fice of Community and Rural A f- fairs (OCR A) announced sever- al grants that were awarded to the Indiana Southwest Region for communities served by the Eco- nomic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana. The Town of Fort Branch and Gibson County as a whole received $250,000 in OC- R A funding. Haubstadt received $150,000. The funding is designated for small businesses in high-risk cat- egories, such as food and bever- age, personal care, professional services and retail sectors. All grant funds can be used for working capital, continued operat- ing expenses, or to support remote work expenses, and the Town of Fort Branch has said awards will be first-come, first-served for up to $10,000 per business. Applications close at 4 p.m. Sept. 15. Businesses or individuals must: • Be a sole proprietorship, cor- porate franchise, LLC, corpora- tion or independent contractor. • Must be considered a small business (100 or less) and actively operating prior to the COVID pan- demic or whose opening was im- pacted by the COVID pandemic. • Demonstrate the direct cor- relation of their business disrup- tion to COVID-19 in their impact letters. • Primary office or business location must be within the Town of Fort Branch corporate bound- aries. • Provide a letter how the in- flux of the grant funds will help re- tain a certain number of employ- ees, and • Provide documentation of company employees, positions, av- erage number of hours worked per week, and average annual salary (based upon the last three months' salary times four). • Full-time equivalent (F TE) is defined as more than 32 hours per week. • Micro-businesses/sole pro- prietors must receive W-2 or 1099 to apply. • No cash wages will be consid- ered as wages. • Businesses receiving oth- er COVID-19 assistance such as PPP, EIDL are eligible to apply, but not those receiving prior OC- R A COVID-19 grant assistance. • Non-profit agencies are inel- igible. The Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana will be providing program man- agement, oversight and adminis- tration of the funds for the com- munities. Kilburn arrested after pursuit, crash and struggle On Sept. 4, at approximately 9:26 p.m., Gibson County Central Dis- patch put out a Be On the Look Out (aka BO- LO) on a vehi- cle speeding on State Road 64 without their headlights be- ing activated. A fter receiving several 911 calls Deputy U.B. Smith arrived in the Francis- co area and saw the vehicle travel toward him with no headlights on. Deputy Smith turned on the vehi- cle and attempted to conduct a traf- fic stop. However, the vehicle, which was pulling a small watercraft be- hind it, sped away. While pursuing the vehicle, the small watercraft that was tied to the vehicle came off and struck a vehi- cle. Deputy Smith was able to catch up to the fleeing vehicle and identi- fied it as a red 1998 Jeep Cherokee. While in pursuit, Deputy Smith ob- served the Jeep Cherokee drive in excess of the speed limit and with no regard for other motorists. During the pursuit, the red Jeep traveled in the opposite lane of travel for extend- ed periods of time and caused multi- ple vehicle accidents. Eventually, the driver left the road- way and struck a ditch. While in the ditch, the driver of the Jeep refused to obey Deputy Smith's lawful or- ders to exit the vehicle and pepper balls were deployed inside the ve- hicle. The driver, 37-year-old Tike- lan D. Kilburn, was forcefully re- moved from the vehicle and taken into custody after a brief struggle. At that point, Deputy Smith trans- ported Kilburn to the Gibson Gen- eral emergency room, where he fin- ished his investigation. At the con- clusion of his investigation, Depu- ty Smith transported Kilburn to the Gibson County Jail, where he was charged with: • criminal recklessness with a ve- hicle-battery-resulting in bodily in- jury • criminal mischief • operating a vehicle while in- toxicated-resisting arrest with a ve- hicle with injury-resisting law en- forcement • failure to stop after an acci- dent-reckless driving • aggressive driving Kilburn remains in custody on a $750 bond. Bond amounts are a set scale set by the Gibson County Ju- dicial System and can be revisited by the Prosecutor's office on a case- by-case basis. Assisting Deputy Smith in his investigation were Deputies Zach Lienemann and Bryce Jutzi. Also assisting were Captains Bryan Ellis and Deborah Borchelt, of the Gibson County Sheriff's Office. Tikelan D. Kilburn Let the sunshine in: Solar project planned for Francisco By Janice Barniak A solar project is proposed for Francisco, Gibson County Econom- ic Development Corporation Direc- tor Paul Waters told Gibson County Commissioners Tuesday, when ask- ing them to approve Midwest Solar to pay Baker Tilly, Ice Miller and Umbaugh on behalf of the EDC for legal advice to work on the project in the county. Midwest Solar will reimburse the EDC $40,000 to employ Baker Til- ly, another $40,000 toward services of Ice Miller and $15,000 to employ Umbaugh. The company plans to request a tax abatement, but to do that, the commissioners would have to de- clare the eastern Gibson area an Eco- nomic Recovery Area, which com- missioners did Tuesday. When the scope of the project is determined, they'll outline the ER A. Heath Dept. will take over fairgrounds' COVID testing By Janice Barniak The state has given the Gibson County Health Dept. $100,000 to establish a testing site, and the de- partment has decided to continue the one Optum has been hosting at the county fairgrounds begin- ning Oct. 1. The company would have been leaving, but now the health dept. will oversee the site, which will re- quire hiring three people, includ- ing a nurse manager, a certified medical assistant or other trained backup for the nurse, and one ad- ministrative person. The two health department nurses will also backstop for peo- ple in the three positions. The advantage of continuing the site Optum started includes keeping it easy for people who al- ready know of the site, the abili- ty to host drive-through and walk- up testing, and because the site would also work to roll out a coro- navirus immunization when it is approved.