2 from Marengo County sentenced for $1.2 million fraud scheme

Two men from Marengo County have been sentenced for a wire fraud conspiracy in which $1.2 million in building materials was stolen. 

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Alabama, Bryan Keith Gracie, 40, of Demopolis and Ellis Tyrone Miller, 35, of Dixons Mills reportedly spearheaded the conspiracy to steal building materials from a Thomasville company between June 2021 and March 2022.

The two were said to have stolen materials by providing delivery and shipment numbers for orders intended for the company’s customers to people who were unauthorized to accept them.

They would then make false entries and reversals of information into the company database that communicated with servers outside of the state. They reportedly signed fraudulent bills of lading for shipments to third-party trucking companies that were not authorized.

A estimated $1,213,524.16 in building materials were illegally obtained. 

Gracie was sentenced to 27 months in prison while Miller was sentenced to 13 months. Both will serve three years of supervised release.

No fine was imposed on either but both were ordered to pay back the money jointly and severally. Miller was ordered to pay $100 in special assessments.