The owner of a now-defunct general contracting business has been sentenced to federal prison for scamming a Lincoln bank out of $274,000.
Joseph Ward Jr. said false invoices were submitted to First State Bank so he could get advances of funds "to pay the bills, to pay the employees that bust their butts for us every day."
His business, Husker Underground Utilities & Construction LLC, was based in Lincoln and primarily did contract work for ALLO burying and relocating fiber-optic cable.
At his sentencing Thursday, Ward alleged an ALLO employee had approached him in late 2016 wanting a monthly "kickback" to continue the contract, but Ward said he couldn't. He didn't have the money and thought morally it wasn't right.
He never reported it to law enforcement.
The next spring, in 2017, five false invoices were submitted to the bank in Ward's name. Ward said he intended to pay the money back.
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Ultimately, Husker Underground couldn't survive without the ALLO contract and dissolved in June 2019.
In 2021, Ward and his wife, Vickie Ward, were indicted for bank fraud. But, as part of the plea agreement, the government on Thursday dismissed the case against her.
"I'm not sure what to say except I take full responsibility for my actions and what I did," said Joseph Ward, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, now. "I did it because I wanted to write the paychecks for my employees and try to further the business and keep it going. I did it. It's my fault and I apologize to everybody involved."
His attorney, Matthew Burns, argued for house arrest or any other type of alternate sentence so he could keep working and pay restitution.
But Senior U.S. District Judge John Gerrard pointed out Ward hadn't paid a dime in restitution yet in the year since he pleaded guilty.
U.S. Attorney Steven Russell argued for two years in prison, saying Ward "was in a situation where he could've done the right thing, maybe taken some consequences, maybe lost his business. But at least it was the right thing. ... Or he could've done something illegal. And he chose the illegal path."
Gerrard said while the defense argued that Ward's case was vastly different than most fraud cases, actually it wasn't.
"Only the names change," he said.
The judge said month after month cases come before him about people lying to the IRS or Social Security or banks, thinking they're not really victims.
"Well, as a matter of fact they are," Gerrard said.
And he sentenced Ward to a year and nine months in federal prison, starting July 12, plus five years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution of $274,199.
2023 Lincoln City Election Voter's Guide
We reached out to candidates before Lincoln's city election and asked them to provide biographical information and answer questions relevant to the offices they seek.Â
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, a Democrat, faces former state Sen. Suzanne Geist, a Republican, in her run for a second term.
This year's city elections will put at least three new faces on the City Council, where the four seats which represent districts are on the ballot.
Two Lincoln Board of Education incumbents face challengers new to politics in this spring’s city elections, while one seat is up for grabs.
There are four candidates competing for two open seats on the Lincoln Airport Authority.