An Oakland City man is sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after defrauding two businesses.
38-year-old Joshua Eaden orchestrated the scheme while serving as a manager at Best-One Tire Service in Princeton.
The company provides various parts and supplies, including industrial equipment tires and foam tire fill to Gibson County Coal and Bridgestone Firestone.
Federal prosecutors say that Eaden defrauded Gibson County Coal by submitting over 300 false foam tire fill invoices by email between November 2013 and March 2016.
The company made the payments, amounting to over $189,000 by mail, causing the net profit percentage of Best-One Tire and service to increase. This also caused higher bonus payments for Eaden.
He also reported tire sales to Bridgestone that never occurred and cited invoices for these claims.
A jury found Eaden guilty on 17 counts of wire and mail fraud in October 2019.
The sentencing hearing was delayed multiple times after Eaden claimed that he had a medical problem after the trial that severely damaged his vision, causing him to go legally blind.
The FBI investigated these claims and found them to be untrue.
After the prison sentence, Eaden will face three years of supervised release and $244,683 in restitution.
