Man gets year in prison for Red River Army Depot phony invoice scheme

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The last of seven men indicted in connection with a scheme involving phony invoices to Red River Army Depot for tires, equipment and repair services learned his fate from a federal judge in Texarkana Thursday morning.

Rodney Glen Cornelius, 64, must serve 12 months in federal prison and is jointly liable for more than $1 million in restitution. Cornelius appeared with Texarkana lawyer Shorty Barrett for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder.

Cornelius and six other men are named in an indictment handed down last year in the Texarkana division of the Eastern District of Texas which alleged a conspiracy headed by former RRAD Truck Fleet Supervisor Benny Woodard. Woodard died of a single gunshot wound just as the investigation was gaining speed.

Cornelius and William Randall Scott, 59, worked under Woodard as runners for RRAD. According to plea documents, Cornelius and Scott made extra money by helping Woodard and the other defendants, who all owned tire and repair businesses, in their illegal dealings.

Scott received a five-year probation, a $25,000 money judgment and is jointly liable for some of the restitution in the case. Kenneth Ray Shackelford, 54, former co-owner of Advantage Distributors, was sentenced to 34 months in prison, the most of any defendant in the case. Shackelford owes more than $800,000 in restitution. Anthony Paul Vera, 54, who owned Triple P Enterprises in DeKalb, Texas, received a 32-month term and must pay back more than $500,000.

Former Hooks, Texas Justice of the Peace and Municipal Judge Patrick Ray James, was allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tampering with a governmental record. James received a year of probation and paid a $25,000 fine. William Robert Barr, 56, owner of B Truck and Trailer in Texarkana, has paid more than $40,000 in restitution, must serve four years on probation and must pay a $10,000 fine. The indictment against Sean Dennis Knorr, owner of truck and trailer businesses in Cass County, was dismissed after Knorr died of illness.

The conspiracy Woodard initiated began as early as 2007 and continued until his death in April 2013.

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