Following in the footsteps of his partner in crime, the second man accused of stealing more than $4 million from the federal government while conducting work for the Savannah River Site MOX project reached a plea deal Wednesday.
Aaron Vennefron, the founder of Ohio-based AV Security, initially pleaded not guilty to a host of charges in February. Contractor CB&I AREVA MOX Services is building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) at SRS to convert 34 metric tons of surplus nuclear weapon-usable plutonium into commercial nuclear fuel.
AV Security was hired in 2010 as a subcontractor to provide security goods and services for the project. In December 2015, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Vennefron and Phillip Thompson, his partner, on 13 counts of wire fraud, one count of theft of government funds, and two counts of conspiracy.
The indictment states that Vennefron formed AV Security “for the sole purpose of submitting false invoices for non existent goods.” Vennefron worked with Thompson, a senior representative for the MOX project through his work with Wise Services, according to the indictment.
Wise Services was created in 1993 to serve as a subcontractor to provide construction labor services at a Department of Energy facility in Ohio, and added services in South Carolina when it was hired as a subcontractor for the MOX project, according to the indictment.
A plea deal signed Wednesday shows that Vennefron pleaded guilty to the same charge his partner admitted to in February: a count of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds. The punishment for the offense is up to five years in prison, a fine of as much as $250,000, a maximum of three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. “The Defendant understands and agrees that monetary penalties imposed by the Court are due immediately and subject to enforcement by the United States as civil judgements,” the plea deal states.
Thompson and Vennefron willingly created false invoices and collected money on those invoices from CB&I AREVA MOX Services, according to the indictment. The indictment alleges that, on several occasions, goods were assumed to be purchased from another Ohio company, Ross Hardware. Venefron allegedly would fax the invoices from the hardware store to Wise Services in South Carolina. From there, Thompson would submit the invoices to MOX Services for payment.
Both Vennefron and Thompson are now awaiting sentencing.
