Last July I reported on the case of Timothy Heffner of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Heffner had pleaded guilty to fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion in a scheme where he “purchased” rare chemicals from Sigma-Aldrich for next to nothing and then resold the same chemicals back to Sigma-Aldrich for their normally high prices. That was very profitable as Mr. Heffner and his co-conspirator made $2.1 million in illegal income. He also committed tax evasion, changing personal expenses into business expenses.
Mr. Heffner enjoyed the fruits of his “success” with fancy cars, an estate in a nice suburb of Pittsburgh, and a yacht. Ultimately, though, neither foray into alchemy was successful as the scheme unraveled with his indictment last year.
To Mr. Heffner’s credit he cooperated fully with the IRS and the Postal Inspection Service following his indictment. “I’ve learned a lot from this experience. It’s been costly and it’s been painful and it never will be repeated,” Mr. Heffner said. “I meant no harm to the government of the United States of America.”
Under federal sentencing guidelines Mr. Heffner was looking at 41 to 51 months at ClubFed. His cooperation paid off; Assistant US Attorney Paul Hull asked the judge to reduce Mr. Heffner’s sentence because of his cooperation. Mr. Heffner has also already paid back most of the money to Sigma-Aldrich (he needs to pay only $139,000 more to the company). Mr. Heffner also has been very active in local charities. Judge Gustave Diamond noted these activities, and sentenced Mr. Heffner to 18 months at ClubFed, completion of restitution to Sigma-Aldrich, a $7,500 fine, and restitution to the IRS…once the IRS figures out how much he owes in back taxes, penalties and interest.