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Missouri man admits failing to begin prison term for fraud

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - A St. Louis man faces up to a decade in federal prison after admitting he failed to report to begin serving a 366-day sentence for stealing from his former employer.

Kevin Dowell, 38, pleaded guilty Monday in East St. Louis, Illinois, to a charge of failure to surrender for service.

Dowell was sentenced last June to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to a wire fraud count linked to what prosecutors said was his scheme to bilk FKG Oil Co. of Belleville.

Dowell admits that while serving as FKG's human resources chief, he carried out his fraud from mid-2010 to April 2013 by falsifying mileage expense reports, using a company credit card for personal expenses, and transferring funds from FKG's bank account directly to his own.

Authorities say at least part of the fraud was meant to support Dowell's relationship with an exotic dancer.

Dowell also was ordered to pay $114,000 in restitution, including $26,000 in investigative costs.

But Dowell failed in August to surrender to the prison as ordered and was arrested a week later. His sentencing on that is scheduled for May 18, and any new prison term will have to be served after his one related to the fraud case has been completed.

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