7 day forecast
Two men sentenced in Le-Nature's fraud
Share with others:
Jonathan E. Podlucky, former chief operating officer of Le-Nature's Inc., and Donald K. Pollinger, a North Carolina businessman who aided in the drink company's financial fraud, were both sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday.
The two could have faced sentences of 15 to 27 years under federal guidelines, because of the magnitude of the fraud that bilked lenders and investors out of $661.3 million. But they pleaded guilty to bank fraud in May and cooperated with prosecutors.
The U.S. attorney's office later secured a guilty plea from Le-Nature's CEO Gregory J. Podlucky, who got a 20-year sentence.
Jonathan Podlucky, 37, the brother of Gregory, and a Greensburg man, was part of the inner-circle at the Latrobe-based bottling firm that went bankrupt in 2006. Mr. Pollinger, 68, of Charlotte, headed The Pollinger Co., an equipment manufacturing firm that provided fake receipts used by Le-Nature's to secure loans.
Both were ordered to help repay the losses suffered by banks from their prison paychecks and any post-release income.
First Published January 11, 2012 12:00 am
