A Canonsburg man who police said embezzled nearly $7 million from Hillandale Farms Co. has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.
Jonathan A. Weston, 60, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay $6.87 million in restitution to Hempfield-based Hillandale Farms, as well as $1.22 million to the Internal Revenue Service.
“For more than a dozen years, the defendant took advantage of his role as accountant for a profitable family farming business to defraud the company of nearly $7 million — and the Internal Revenue Service of more than $1 million — and then launder that money for his own personal and financial benefit,” Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti said in a news release Wednesday.
Weston was also ordered to forfeit specific assets related to his illegal activities, including a 2008 Aston Martin luxury car, a 1933 Ford Model 40 coupe, a condominium and multiple bank accounts.
From October 2005 to January 2019, Weston worked as an accountant at Hillandale Farms, which was sold to a Luxembourg-based company earlier this year for $1.1 billion. It is among the nation’s top egg producers.
Prosecutors said Weston and another employee stole the money from Hillandale and laundered it through businesses they both controlled in order to purchase cars, real estate and other items. Between 2013 and 2018, Weston either failed to file his federal tax return or filed falsified returns.
Yury Kruty, an IRS criminal investigations special agent in charge, said Weston laundered some of the money through candy stores he owns in order to disguise his income.
“These are serious crimes and IRS-CI will aggressively pursue anyone who commits them,” Kruty said.
Weston could not be reached for comment.
Hillandale Farms was founded in 1958, and sold in late March to Global Eggs.
Judge Scott W. Hardy permitted Weston to self-surrender to the designated prison when instructed, and must begin serving his sentence by June 25, according to court records.