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Three people have been sentenced in federal court for their role in a wire fraud conspiracy related to a scheme between two women and a man hired to physically and sexually assault them.
Gordon F. Reabe Jr., 52, Lee’s Summit; Julie R. Bernet, 39, Bucyrus, Kan. and Lindsey D. Crawford, 24, of Kansas City, were sentenced Friday in separate hearings.
Reabe was sentence to one year and one day in federal prison without parole and Bernet was sentence to serve five months in a residential re-entry center by five months of home confinement. Crawford was sentenced to three years of probation.
In addition, each of the defendants has paid $5,259 in restitution to the Kansas City Police Department for the costs incurred during the investigation of the case.
Each of the defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Bernet and Crawford admitted that they agreed to pay Reabe $100,000 to physically assault both of them and to sexually assault Crawford.
The assault was on Nov. 25, 2008 in the garage at Crawford’s residence. Afterward, Bernet and Crawford made false reports to law enforcement authorities concerning the staged assault, falsely claiming to have been assaulted by two unknown masked men. Because of the statement, law enforcement authorities spent a substantial amount of time and money investigating the nonexistent crime.
The conspiracy was to fraudulently increase damages in the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Bernet and Crawford against their former employer, Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City as well as Soave Automotive Group, Inc., T.E.N. Investments, Inc. and Soave Enterprises, L.L.C.
The release said that by fraudulently staging an assault and linking the staged assault to those companies, Bernet and Crawford hoped that the settlement value or potential damages awarded by a jury in the sexual harassment lawsuit would substantially increase.
Three people have been sentenced in federal court for their role in a wire fraud conspiracy related to a scheme between two women and a man hired to physically and sexually assault them.
Gordon F. Reabe Jr., 52, Lee’s Summit; Julie R. Bernet, 39, Bucyrus, Kan. and Lindsey D. Crawford, 24, of Kansas City, were sentenced Friday in separate hearings.
Reabe was sentence to one year and one day in federal prison without parole and Bernet was sentence to serve five months in a residential re-entry center by five months of home confinement. Crawford was sentenced to three years of probation.
In addition, each of the defendants has paid $5,259 in restitution to the Kansas City Police Department for the costs incurred during the investigation of the case.
Each of the defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Bernet and Crawford admitted that they agreed to pay Reabe $100,000 to physically assault both of them and to sexually assault Crawford.
The assault was on Nov. 25, 2008 in the garage at Crawford’s residence. Afterward, Bernet and Crawford made false reports to law enforcement authorities concerning the staged assault, falsely claiming to have been assaulted by two unknown masked men. Because of the statement, law enforcement authorities spent a substantial amount of time and money investigating the nonexistent crime.
The conspiracy was to fraudulently increase damages in the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Bernet and Crawford against their former employer, Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City as well as Soave Automotive Group, Inc., T.E.N. Investments, Inc. and Soave Enterprises, L.L.C.
The release said that by fraudulently staging an assault and linking the staged assault to those companies, Bernet and Crawford hoped that the settlement value or potential damages awarded by a jury in the sexual harassment lawsuit would substantially increase.
