ASHBY, Minn. — Jerome Robert Hennessey, who used to be the manager of western Minnesota grain elevator company, pleaded to multiple charges on Thursday.
Hennessey, 56, was charged with mail fraud and income tax evasion. He admitted to stealing more than $3.5 million dollars.
Hennessey used to work for Ashby Farmers' Co-Operative Elevator Company in Ashby and was responsible for bank accounts, among other things. Hennessey abused his power as manager to take money from the company.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said that Hennessey wrote checks and used them to renovate his house and cabin, to buy property and vehicles, to go on costly hunting trips, to pay for taxidermy and more.
In an attempt to get away with it, Hennessey would fake descriptions on the carbon copies of the checks to say that the money was going to company purchases. He ended up obtaining a line of credit for more than $7 million to try and cover his tracks.
The Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the Grant County Sheriff's Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension all worked on this investigation.
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