By AP/St. Louis Public Radio
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A Missouri man has been ordered to spend two years and a month in federal prison and ordered to pay roughly $125,000 in restitution for defrauding Illinois construction customers.
Thirty-nine-year-old Mark Koch of Wildwood, Mo., was sentenced Friday in East St. Louis, where he pleaded guilty in June to two counts of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.
Prosecutors say the Koch was doing business as Elite Building and Development in Highland in 2006 when he made contractual agreements that falsely promised customers he would do construction services necessary to erect steel buildings.
The U.S. government says he duped 10 victims.