d. the residence located at 4302 Dakota Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee (hereinafter"the 4302 Dakota A venue Property") further described and depicted inAttachment D 1, for the items described in Attachment D2.e. the residence located at 2211 Blair Drive, Hebron, Kentucky (hereinafter "the2211 Blair Drive Property") further described and depicted in Attachment E 1, forthe items described in Attachment E2.f. the residence located at 331 7 Westminster Road, Bettendorf, Iowa (hereinafter"the 3317 Westminster Road Property") further described and depicted inAttachment F 1, for the items described in Attachment F2.4. This affidavit contains facts that show probable cause to search the above-namedproperties, and for evidence related to violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1341, 1343, and 1349arising from a conspiracy and scheme executed by Pilot employees to defraud certain Pilotcustomers by deceptively reducing discounts and rebates due to Pilot customers, without thecustomers' knowledge or approval, for the dual purposes of increasing Pilot's profitability andthe sales commissions of the Pilot employees participating in the conspiracy and scheme todefraud, and to seize any such found evidence.II.Terms5. For the purposes of this affidavit, the attachments hereto, and the search warrant,and supporting application, the following terms have the following meaning:a. Pilot. The term "Pilot" refers collectively to Pilot Corporation, PilotTravel Centers, LLC, PilotFlying J, and any other name under which Pilot Corporation sellsdiesel fuel to commercial customers through its direct sales team of Regional Sales Directors,Page 4 of 120<strong>Affidavit</strong> of Special Agent Robert H. Root, FBI, in support of search warrant applications for the following:the office building located at 5500 Lonas Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee;the office building located at 5508 Lonas Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee;the commercial building located at 1339 E. Weisgarber Road, Knoxville, Tennesseethe residence located at 4302 Dakota Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee;the residence located at 2211 Blair Drive, Hebron, Kentucky; andthe residence located at 3317 Westminster Road, Bettendorf, Iowa.Case 3:13-mj-02028 Document 4 Filed 04/18/13 Page 4 of 120 PageID #: 43
Regional Sales Managers, Regional Account Representatives, and Inside Sales Representatives.Pilot operates truck care facilities and travel plazas throughout the United States, and is one ofthe largest suppliers of diesel fuel to over-the-road truck carriers in the United States.b. Customers. The term "Customer" or "Customers" refers to Pilotcustomers who purchase diesel fuel for commercial use from Pilot's stations and travel-plazas,and includes Direct Billed Customers and Funded/Restricted Customers, which are definedbelow.c. Direct Billed Customers. Based on information provided by CHS-2, theterm "Direct Billed Customers" refers to Customers to whom Pilot has extended credit for thepurchase of diesel fuel. Direct Billed Customers purchase their diesel from Pilot on creditextended by Pilot, and Pilot sends these Customers an invoice for the cost of the diesel purchasedon credit, including any agreed upon discount, on a periodic basis, sometimes on a daily basis,but typically no longer than a weekly basis.d. Discount Fraud. The term "Discount Fraud," which is a term that was notused by Pilot employees, is a short-hand reference used in this affidavit to mean the intentionaland deceptive reduction of a diesel discount agreement with a Customer, without the Customer'sknowledge or approval, for the purpose of increasing Pilot's profitability and the salescommissions of Pilot employees. Based on information provided through the cooperation ofCHS-2, internally at Pilot, this deceptive practice has been referred to at various times as"managing the discount," and "jacking the discount."e. Funded/Restricted Customers. Based on information provided by CHS-2,the term "Funded/Restricted Customers" refers to Customers who purchase their diesel fuel fromPage 5 of 120<strong>Affidavit</strong> of Special Agent Robert H. Root, FBI, in support of search warrant applications for the following:the office building located at 5500 Lonas Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee;the office building located at 5508 Lonas Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee;the commercial building located at 1339 E. Weisgarber Road, Knoxville, Tennesseethe residence located at 4302 Dakota Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee;the residence located at 2211 Blair Drive, Hebron, Kentucky; andthe residence located at 3317 Westminster Road, Bettendorf, Iowa.Case 3:13-mj-02028 Document 4 Filed 04/18/13 Page 5 of 120 PageID #: 44
- Page 1 and 2: AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF SEARCH wARR
- Page 3: transcriptions thereof. This affida
- Page 7 and 8: 1. Based on information provided by
- Page 9 and 10: FBI in the investigation of the Pil
- Page 11 and 12: the event he was ever contacted by
- Page 13 and 14: Dakota Avenue Property, the 2211 Bl
- Page 15 and 16: 1. Vincent Greco (Greco). Greco is
- Page 17 and 18: y. Holly Radford (Radford). Radford
- Page 19 and 20: Iowa. While based out of Texas and
- Page 21 and 22: Customer for the reduced amount inp
- Page 23 and 24: informed Jones about the deal by wa
- Page 25 and 26: 40. CHS-2 stated that an example of
- Page 27 and 28: Trucking complaint, but at that tim
- Page 29 and 30: thousand, make it ninety thousand.
- Page 31 and 32: CHS-2: Brian gave you no files, pap
- Page 33 and 34: CHS-2: You know what I'm saying?CRU
- Page 35 and 36: CHS-2: Yeah, I mean that's why I've
- Page 37 and 38: CRUTCHMAN: I don't know.CHS-2: I th
- Page 39 and 40: CHS-2: Well, now there's a ..CRUTCH
- Page 41 and 42: MCFARLAND: Mmmhmm. Urn, this one is
- Page 43 and 44: CHS-2: Is it a pain in the butt, I
- Page 45 and 46: MCFARLAND: Yeah, which were John's,
- Page 47 and 48: 60. During this October 25, 2012 me
- Page 49 and 50: 63. Prior to Hazelwood's arrival, d
- Page 51 and 52: 64. Later during the October 25, 20
- Page 53 and 54: with it?" He goes, "Hmmph. Humph, h
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month and their pay based on that,
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means, 'cause, frankly, he's lazy,
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RADFORD: And what did I tell you? W
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environments, 'cause we can do the
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DILLON: And Katy just started this,
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JONES: We've been kinda rolling, ye
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him screwin' him, we cut him a chec
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CHS-2: But you pay the Postal Servi
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CHS-2: Yeah, and that's what Brian-
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deceiving some Customers in his old
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ANDREWS: She didn't deliver that. S
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ANDREWS: I mean you .. you got to k
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CHS-2: Well, I mean, again, there's
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ANDREWS: Are you serious, man?FREEM
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82. From February 15, 2013, through
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Freeman also stressed that the best
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88. On February 22, 2013, CHS-2 con
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CRUTCHMAN: Kristen.CHS-2: Geez, how
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Trucking. And that's because the ga
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CRUTCHMAN: Yeah, he'd rather put, t
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CRUTCHMAN: I mean, you can run a re
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CHS-2: She showed it to me one time
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actually paid the Customer; any pri
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that documents related to the consp
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VII.There is probable cause to beli
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113. On April 5, 2013, CHS-2 advise
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118. On April8, 2013, pursuant to a
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130. Accordingly, your affidavit re
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single document can reside at multi
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completely unrelated to the crimina
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d. The process of identifying the e
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14 7. Records sought under this war
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enforcement officers will, to the e
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