A federal judge in St. Louis sentenced Robert Scott Gray, 50, of Festus to four years and three months in federal prison and ordered him to pay $3,894,630.10 in restitution following a sentencing hearing held Friday, Sept. 30.
Gray pleaded guilty in April to mail fraud, offering illegal gratuities and making false statements in connection with a federal case involving SG Print & Mail, a direct-mail company Gray formerly owned and operated in Crystal City.
In addition to 51 months in prison and restitution, U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel sentenced Gray to three years of supervised probation to be completed upon his release, and Gray was ordered to undergo treatment while in prison for a gambling addiction.
Gray said he plans to appeal the sentencing.
According to the plea agreement, Gray and his company defrauded the U.S. Postal Service out of $3.98 million between 2005 and 2007 by underreporting the number of pieces the business mailed and over-reporting the number of precanceled stamps used to mail items.
Read the complete story in the Oct. 6 Leader.
