Former Richland Resident Sentenced for Three Fraud Schemes

A former Richland Township resident has been sentenced in federal court to 110 months in prison and three years supervised release on his conviction of conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton announced Friday.

Lacy Tilley, 46, formerly of 4165 Ben Miller Road, was convicted in connection with three different fraud schemes.

U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the sentence on Tilley, who has been incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail since July 2007 serving a sentence for possessing firearms as a convicted felon.

"In the first scheme, Tilley purchased a company and renamed and reorganized that company under the name United Building Maintenance," Hickton said in a press release. "He then directed five other employees, including his fiancé, Claudele McMahill, to fraudulently apply for unemployment benefits by representing that they were not working."

In fact, those employees continued to work at United Building Maintenance. Tilley paid the employees the difference between what they were making under the former company and what they received through unemployment, according to information presented in court.

In the second fraud scheme, Tilley embezzled more than $300,000 from his then-employer, Penn Window Cleaning Co., the U.S. attorney's office said in its statement.

"As part of the scheme, Tilley and his co-conspirators diverted revenue that should have been received by Penn Window Cleaning Co. to a bank account that the conspirators controlled and of which Penn Window Cleaning Co. was unaware," the press statement said.

In the third fraud scheme, Tilley applied for a loan to be collateralized by the property located at 4165 Ben Miller Road in Gibsonia and which financed the construction of a home on that property, the U.S. attorney's office said.

"As part of the scheme, Tilley submitted fraudulent W-2s and pay stubs, fake tax returns, and other fraudulent documents to secure the loan and financing to complete construction of the home," according to the press release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Hickton commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Tilley.