Shipping company owner gets prison term for fraud scheme

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The owner of a New Jersey freight shipping company is headed to prison for his role in a fraud scheme.

Federal prosecutors say 48-year-old Courtney Shorter received a 41-month sentence Monday. The Roselle resident had pleaded guilty in April to mail fraud charges, admitting that he billed a medical devices and pharmaceutical company more than $3 million for services that were never provided.

Shorter, who also has a residence in Memphis, Tennessee, owned Sam Shorter & Son Delivery Service LLC, a Long Valley-based freight shipping and trucking company. Shorter admitted that he and others sent more than 1,725 fraudulent freight shipment invoices to a company that processed such documents for the medical devices company.

Shorter received $3,039,840 through the scheme, which he later deposited into bank accounts he controlled and used for personal expenses, including more than $120,000 in jewelry.