Judge Sentences Man To Prison, Ordered To Pay $567K Restitution For Defrauding Oil Company

Source: Billings Gazette

A federal judge in Billings on Wednesday sentenced a man who admitted defrauding an Australian oil company of more than $500,000 to 18 months in prison.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters sentenced the defendant, Dalton Allan Hallgren, 45, also known as Donald Hallgren Jr., at the high end of a range in plea agreement that recommended six months to 18 months.

She also ordered Hallgren pay $567,427 restitution and dismissed other counts, court records said.

Hallgren pleaded guilty in April to two wire fraud counts. He admitted lying about having a petroleum engineering degree and defrauding Central Petroleum LTD, an Australian company, after going to work for it as a manager in November 2011.

Prosecutors said Hallgren provided the company a forged document that purported to show he had a degree in petroleum engineering from Montana Tech. Hallgren also didn’t tell Central that he had formed a company called Alpha Oilfield Services in Montana.

In January 2012, Hallgren had Central contract with Alpha to buy equipment and used an acquaintance in Billings to prepare invoices on Alpha letterhead to Central, prosecutors said.

Central wired about $542,846 from Australia to a Billings bank account controlled by Hallgren, prosecutors said. Alpha never provided the equipment to Central, and Hallgren was ultimately terminated from the company.

Hallgren told prosecutors he used some of the money for personal expenses.

Watters allowed Hallgren to report to prison when he receives his assignment by the Bureau of Prisons.