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TAMPA — A federal judge sentenced two business owners Thursday to federal prison for crimes including wire fraud, money laundering, and structuring financial transactions.
Christian Lee Hancock, 36, received a sentence of 57 months in federal prison for the crimes listed above, while Tina Inez Schneider, 37, was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for structuring financial transactions. A federal jury found both guilty Nov. 3.
Hancock and Schneider were the owners and operators of Gator Core Inc., a Riverview metal recycling company. According to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, Hancock and Schneider conspired to steal hundreds of tractor-trailer loads of auto batteries that were on their way to Envirofocus Technologies, a lead smelter in the Tampa area, and Johnson Controls.
Between 2006 and 2009, the two worked with others to falsify documents and records to steal more than 8 million pounds of batteries. Hancock and Schneider then resold the batteries through their business to earn a profit.
According to a release, the scam cost Envirofocus and Johnson Controls nearly $3.4 million. In addition to prison time, Hancock must forfeit approximately $1.1 million deemed to be proceeds from the offense, as well as pay a money judgment of more than $1 million.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office.
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