Bennie Fuelberg
Former Pedernales Electric Cooperative General Manager Bennie Fuelberg has been sentenced to five years’ probation, 300 days in county jail, 1,000 hours of community service and $126,000 in restitution which goes to the co-op’s former law firm Clark, Thomas and Winters, and its insurance company, which paid a $4.1 million settlement to the co-op last year. The sentence is for a conviction on third-degree felony theft of co-op funds, money laundering and misappropriation of fiduciary property. The co-op, which had rejected a prosecution proposal directing Fuelberg to pay Pedernales $100,000, gets no money.
The charges could have carried a maximum prison term of 10 years, but Fuelberg got less than a year of actual jail time.
Demond, a former attorney with Clark, Thomas & Winters, faces trial on the same theft and money laundering charges later this year.
Update:
Turns out, the reason for only 300 days of jail time is the judge gave Fuelberg the option of reducing his jail time by accepting responsibility for his crime — including waiving his right to appeal — and testifying against attorney Walter Demond. Demond, a former partner at Clark Thomas, who faces trial later this year on the same felony theft, money laundering and misapplication of fiduciary property charges as Fuelberg.
