June 29, 09

NEWS / Kentucky Man Sentenced on Wire Fraud Charges

FT. MITCHELL, KY—Bruce Kiser, 60, of Florence, Kentucky was sentenced yesterday to 33 months in prison on eight counts of wire fraud and one count conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His wife, Kimberly Kiser, 49, of Columbus, Ohio was sentenced to four months in prison and four months home confinement for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Bruce Kiser’s step-daughter, Erica Aspacher, 30, of Lebanon, Ohio was sentenced to six months home confinement and five years probation, and earlier this year, Bruce’s son, Derek Kiser, was sentenced on May 22, 2009 to five months home confinement and four years probation on one count of wire fraud. United States District Court Judge David L. Bunning sentenced all four members of the Kiser family.

Bruce Kiser, Kim Kiser, and Erica Aspacher pled guilty to their respective charges in February and Derek Kiser pled guilty to the one count against him in January. At his plea, Bruce Kiser admitted that when he was Vice President of Information Technology at Heritage Propane in Florence, Kentucky, he approved and caused the payment of invoices sent from his wife, step-daughter, and son knowing that no work had been done in relation to the invoices. In total, over $181,000 in illegitimate invoices were submitted and paid.

Under federal law, Bruce Kiser must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.

James A. Zerhusen, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Timothy Cox, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s Louisville Division, jointly made the announcement yesterday after Bruce Kiser, Kim Kiser, and Aspacher were sentenced.

The investigation was conducted by Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant United States Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.