The president of a wholesale distribution company that operates out of the New England Produce Center in Chelsea was sentenced Thursday in federal court to 15 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for filing fraudulent insurance claims.
John S. “Yanni” Alphas, 56, of Weston, was also ordered to pay $160,876 in restitution, as well as a $60,000 fine. Alphas, president of The Alphas Company, pleaded guilty in August 2014 to one count of wire fraud.
For four and a half years between 2007 and 2011, Alphas submitted at least 10 bogus insurance claims seeking reimbursement for lost, stolen, or damaged produce, including disposal expenses, shipping fees, and the cost of replacement stock, according to the US attorney’s office.
An FBI investigation found that despite sustaining about $19,000 in legitimate losses, Alphas sought insurance payments that exceeded those losses by about $450,000. His insurers paid him approximately $178,000.
Alphas was charged with a single count of wire fraud in May 2014.
US District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock tacked on three additional months to Alphas’s prison sentence based on a separate incident where Alphas, during the course of sentencing proceedings, falsely claimed in a US Department of Agriculture license application that he was never convicted of a felony in federal court.
The case was prosecuted by the Economic Crimes Unit out of the office of US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.
Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKConti.