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Former manager pleads guilty to fraud in Minnesota elevator case

The former manager of a grain elevator in west-central Minnesota has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and income tax evasion in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

Jerome Hennessey of Dalton, Minnesota reached a plea deal after being accused of stealing millions of dollars over a 15-year period from the Ashby Farmer’s Cooperative in Ashby.

According to the plea agreement, Hennessey pleaded guilty to knowingly and intentionally devising and executing a scheme to defraud and to obtain money and property from the co-op by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and concealment of material facts.

Hennessey, who turned himself into authorities in December, could face a maximum of 25 years in prison and fines around $500,000 dollars.