NEW: Pomrenkes, key figures in 2016 BVU scandal, going back to prison
The key figures in a Bristol Virginia Utilities fraud scandal from four years ago are heading back to prison.
Former Bristol Judge Kurt Pomrenke and convicted BVU executive Stacey Pomrenke pleaded guilty Friday to concocting a scheme with a specialty law firm to shave months off of Stacey’s prison sentence by having her use a false alcohol addiction.
Prosecutors said Stacey Pomrenke, 48, showed up to a West Virginia women’s prison drunk in September 2016 and was placed in a rehab program that resulted in more than 7 months being taken off her sentence after completion.
Members of RDAP Law Consultants, the firm that worked with Pomrenkes, were indicted last year on federal charges of advising and coaching their clients to fake alcohol addictions to get into their special programs.
The prosecution’s evidence included a payment of $7,500 from the Pomrenkes to RDAP in August 2016.
“The defendant’s actions undermine the purpose of an important program intended for people who need help. We will investigate and refer for prosecution any abuses of these federal programs,” Special Agent in Charge Archey said today. “We are grateful for the partnership of the United States Attorney’s Office (WDVA) and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations Division on this investigation,” said Acting US Attorney Daniel Bubar.
“Pomrenke continued her pattern of fraudulent behavior. Rather than serving her time sentenced, she and her husband schemed to shorten her incarceration by defrauding programs meant for the betterment of inmates battling addictions,” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Kelly R. Jackson. “Further, they encouraged others to engage in the same scheme which deteriorates the effectiveness of these programs from those who truly need it.”
Stacey Pomrenke lied to prison officials during her initial health screening, telling them that she “had been drinking at least a bottle of wine daily since 2008,” according to the report provided by Bubar. In her initial arrest in 2015, she told a probation officer that she had no history of substance abuse.
Stacey Pomrenke admitted to wire fraud and other charges in a money scheme uncovered by federal investigators that sent several other BVU executives and contractors to prison. Her husband, 67, was dismissed from his spot on the Bristol, Virginia District Court bench and was accused of witness tampering during Stacey’s trial.
The Pomrenkes will be sentenced on the new charges in January.
