For years, Sonic Plastics struggled to turn a profit but the financial situation of the Lindon business improved with the 2013 firing of general manager Bruce McKean Strong.
The reason, according to federal prosecutors, was that Strong had embezzled approximately $1 million by creating a company called Grand Design that purportedly supplied raw materials to Sonic at a discounted rate.
However, no one at Sonic ever saw plastic resin from Grand Design being delivered, and all efforts to find “Michael Reyes,” who Strong claimed was his source for the material, “have been a futile waste of time” — because, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Reyes is a fictional person.
Strong, 49, of Sandy, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of mail fraud and four counts of tax evasion.
And on Wednesday, Strong was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dee Benson to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay $911,394 in restitution to Sonic and $155,977 to the Internal Revenue Service. He was ordered to surrender to prison authorities on March 12 to begin his time behind bars.
The sentence is appropriate for a man who used ill-gotten gains to support a lavish lifestyle that included living in a six-bedroom home and driving a Mercedes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a sentencing memorandum asking Benson to impose a “just punishment.”
“For nine years, Mr. Strong embezzled more money from his employer than most Americans made through their honest hard work,” said prosecutors, who had asked for restitution of more than $1.1 million. “The embezzlement of over $1 million, repeatedly and purposefully carried out over a period of years warrants a significant period of incarceration.”
Strong embezzled the money by submitting fake invoices to Sonic from Grand Design and having the checks sent to a post office box, the sentencing memorandum says. Prosecutors believe he used the money to make mortgage payments, lease two vehicles, remodel his basement, pay for his son’s tuition and cover other expenses.
As general manager, Strong was paid $90,000 a year to run Sonic’s day-to-day operations, according to court documents. He was hired in January 2005 and fired in October 2013.
In 2014, Sonic filed suit against Strong in Utah’s 3rd District Court alleging breach of contract, fraud, civil conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duties, among other claims. That lawsuit is pending and a four-week trial is scheduled to begin in May.
Under oath in a deposition in the case, Strong claimed he used Grand Design to purchase plastic resin from “Michael Reyes” at a discount and then sell the material at the same price to Sonic.
The sentencing memorandum says that when Strong was asked why he conducted business through Grand Design when there was no profit for him, his answer appeared to be that he was not stealing from Sonic.
Instead, the memo says, Strong contended he was “laundering approximately $700,000 in proceeds of yet another criminal activity: an illegal gambling business called Paradise Gaming.”
In an impact statement submitted in U.S. District Court, Sonic owner Bruce Snow described Strong as a friend.
“We had dinner with his wife, we went to parties together, we sat on the sidelines of our kids soccer games,” Snow said. “He looked me in the eye every week and pretending he cared, pretending he was a trusted employee and friend!”
The Sonic embezzlement was not Strong’s first crime against an employer, prosecutors say. According to their memo, Strong was fired by Daw Construction in 2001 for submitting false invoices from Grand Design totaling $200,000 for work that was never completed.
The memo says the Daw embezzlement was reported to police but there was no prosecution by the state.
Follow @PamelaMansonSLC