by Blaine Howerton | NorthFortyNews.com
Fort Lupton-based Lozano Trucking owner among three convicted in commercial fraud targeting Colorado utility
DENVER, Colo. — A Northern Colorado trucking company owner and two others have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a commercial bribery and money laundering scheme involving false invoices and kickbacks totaling nearly $1.5 million.
Lozano Trucking LLC, the company owned by Henry Lozano, was confirmed by North Forty News to be based in Fort Lupton, Colorado, by regulatory and carrier data.
Lozano, 43, of Fort Lupton and owner of Lozano Trucking LLC, was sentenced to 23 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $1,495,781.51. His company, which operated in Fort Lupton and provided trucking and hauling services, was at the center of a scheme to defraud a contractor working with a Colorado electrical utility.
Public court filings or legal documents don’t currently (explicitly) name the Colorado utility.
Edward Joseph Chmiel, 50, and Sabino Loera, 51, employees of the contracting company, were also sentenced to 30 months and 25 months in prison, respectively. All three men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Between August 2018 and June 2020, the men submitted fraudulent invoices through Lozano’s trucking firm for services that were never rendered. Once payments were made, a network of 15 individuals helped launder the money by cashing checks and funneling cash back to Chmiel and Loera as kickbacks.
“This sentence should serve as a reminder that commercial bribery and corruption will not be tolerated,” said Amanda Prestegard, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-Criminal Investigations Denver Field Office. FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek added, “Fraud and kickback schemes erode public trust and undermine the systems our communities rely on.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sonia Dave and Bryan Fields following an investigation by the IRS and FBI.
Lozano Trucking LLC, registered under USDOT number 3196773, operated out of Fort Lupton, Colorado, and held active interstate operating authority.
For more details, visit the full DOJ release at:
justice.gov/usao-co/pr/three-sentenced-prison-commercial-bribery-scheme