Patrick Trushell (Photo: OCPO)
A Toms River man utilized positions he simultaneously held at several energy companies to gather lists of customers and filter them to his own company, effectively stealing revenue from the others, according to prosecutors.
Patrick A Trushell II, 39, was sentenced to five years in a New Jersey state prison by Ocean County Superior Court Judge Rochelle Gizinski, on the charges of second degree theft by deception and third degree failure to file a state tax return, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
These charges were the result of a joint investigation conducted by Sgt. Mark Malinowski and members of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crimes Unit along with Auditor Kerry Cymek of the New Jersey Department of Treasury.
Trushell engaged in the acts of theft by deception against three different energy brokerage companies, prosecutors said. Trushell utilized his positions at these companies to obtain customer lists and customer accounts and filtered them to a fourth company that paid him a commission and to his own company, Chrono Energy, LLC, all the while collecting a full time salary from all three resulting in a theft over $250,000 in compensation pursuant to exclusive employment agreements between 2013 and 2014.
