SALT LAKE CITY — On Feb. 21, trucking company owner Felix Tsipelzon pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and was sentenced to 36 months of probation, $138,000 in restitution, forfeiture of $244,026.95 and a $100 assessment.
He appeared in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.
According to a news release, Salt Lake Trucking Group (SLTG) is comprised of several trucking companies that contracted to carry packages for FedEx Ground (FXG).
Tsipelzon was the vice president of SLTG and, along with others, held an ownership interest in some of the truck companies.
“The investigation revealed that SLTG paid bribes to an FXG employee who manipulated FXG’s process for awarding new runs,” the news release noted. “The FXG employee also helped the co-conspirators grow their business larger than FXG allowed by submitting false information to FXG. During the approximate 10-year conspiracy, SLTG received about $108 million in FXG revenue.”
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
