California man sentenced to 40 years in Ky. oil-fraud scheme

The man who orchestrated a multimillion-dollar oil-production fraud in Kentucky was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

John G. Westine, Jr., 69, was sentenced for mail fraud, conspiracy to launder money and securities fraud, according to a statement released Thursday by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Westine’s oil scheme defrauded more than 240 investors nationwide out of more than $3 million. He was ordered to repay $3.04 million. Codefendant Mark Cornell, 56, was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in federal prison for deception in the purchase and sale of a security. He was ordered to repay $2.2 million.

The fraud involved oil wells in Cumberland, Barren and Monroe counties in Kentucky. Westine used commercial mailing services or post office boxes in Covington; Bowling Green; Nashville; Brentwood, Tenn.; and Los Angeles, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Money defrauded from investors was stored in banks in Cincinnati, Louisville, Bowling Green and multiple banks in California.

As part of the scheme, Westine and his codefendants were found to have intentionally misled investors into thinkingWestine’s oil companies were long established and producing oil when they weren’t, according to the news release.

They used aliases and fake company names to conceal their identities from investors and authorities, the news release said.

Westine didn’t disclose to investors that he was on parole after serving 20 years in prison for running a similar scheme in Ohio. He received a longer sentence because of the previous conviction.

Two other codefendants, Michael Hicks and Henry Irving Ramer, previously were sentenced to three years and 13 years, respectively.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 2:47 PM with the headline "California man sentenced to 40 years in Ky. oil-fraud scheme."