Marion, Ia- A Marion man will spend more than three years in prison after being caught in an energy rebate scheme.
Radio Iowa’s Dar Danielson reports that Thirty-nine-year-old Dustin Hutcheson, who is originally from Marshalltown, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of money laundering.
He admitted that his Hutch Energy company offered to upgrade the lighting at small businesses in Cedar Rapids at no cost through a utility rebate program. Court information showed he created false invoices and forged signatures to get rebates from the utility company.
He also paid cash kickbacks to those who do energy audits to get referrals. Hutcheson was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison and ordered to pay 344-thousand dollars in restitution to the utility company.
