A northwest Iowa woman pleaded guilty to making false statements in connection with a highway project that ended up costing the Iowa DOT more than $800,000.
Thirty-one-year-old Jenna Wilson of Sergeant Bluff entered her plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City and faces up to five years in prison. Wilson admitted that between January and July of 2016 that she knowingly made false representations, reports and claims with respect to the cost of work and materials on a federal highway project.
Wilson, while an officer of K&L Inc., submitted falsified Expanded Polystyrene Fill invoices to the general contractor and the Iowa Department of Transportation for stockpiled materials on the I-29 Sioux Interchange Project at Salix.
In all, Wilson fraudulently increased the amounts on the Benchmark invoices by over $807,637, saving her company over $34,000 dollars in interest. Sentencing is pending after a pre-sentence report is prepared.
(By Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)