July 24, 2023 - SAN DIEGO – Derek Gleeson, an Information Technology (“IT”) Consultant, was sentenced in federal court on Friday to 21 months in prison for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a family-owned small business based in New Jersey.

In November 2022, Gleeson, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge, admitting that he charged the small business for IT hardware, software, and services that he never supplied.  Gleeson also admitted that he ginned up or altered invoices in an effort to substantiate the fake charges he submitted to the company.  According to the plea agreement, when the company grew suspicious and confronted Gleeson about the charges, he installed pirated software on the company’s servers, all to make it appear that he had purchased and installed legitimate software, when in fact he had not.  The fraudulent scheme lasted for four years and resulted in over $600,000 in losses.  Gleeson lived in Carlsbad, California at the time of the fraud.

"For years, this defendant took advantage of a position of trust that gave him full access to a small business’s IT system,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “Fortunately, he has been held accountable for the significant impact his crime had on this business and its owners.” Grossman praised the excellent work of the prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on this case.

DEFENDANTS                                            Case Number 20cr3246-DMS                                             

Derek Gleeson                                             Age: 51             Round Rock, TX

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Wire Fraud – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1343

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine

AGENCY

FBI

Contact

Assistant U. S. Attorneys Aaron P. Arnzen (619) 546-8384

and Eric R. Olah (619) 546-7540

Source: DOJ Release