KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The president of a Knoxville, Tennessee-based company owned by Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is out amid an ongoing federal investigation into a scheme to defraud customers.
The Knoxville weekly newspaper Metro Pulse obtained an email sent from Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam to staff on Monday announcing Mark Hazelwood’s immediate departure. The email did not say why Hazelwood was leaving.
Pilot attorney Aubrey Harwell said it is company policy not to publicly discuss personnel matters.
Knoxville-based Pilot is the nation’s largest diesel retailer, with annual revenues around $30 billion.
Hazelwood is the highest-ranking official to leave the company since it was raided by federal agents in April 2013.
In November, the company agreed to pay out nearly $85 million to settle claims with 5,500 trucking companies that were cheated out of promised rebates and discounts. Several companies have filed separate lawsuits against Pilot that are ongoing.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam said Monday that he regrets not being able to adequately fund higher education so that all institutions that improve in some important ways can be rewarded financially.
About four years ago, Tennessee started funding its colleges and universities based on outcomes like graduation rates and credit completions instead of enrollment.
However, the state recently opted not to add any new funding to higher education for the next budget cycle because of a revenue shortfall of more than $270 million. Haslam also didn’t give pay increases to teachers and state employees. Before the dismal revenue numbers, he had promised to give some type of increase to all three.
In the case of the higher education shortfall, it means schools will have to compete against one another for the same pot of money as last year.
That means some institutions that made academic progress won’t have any new money to show for it.
Haslam told The Associated Press before a speech to a group of education writers on Monday that he hopes to fund higher education going forward so that schools can be properly rewarded.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say a Guatemalan national has been sentenced in Nashville to 37 months in prison for his role in a fraudulent tax refund conspiracy that stole almost $650,000.
U.S. Attorney David Rivera announced Monday that 37-year-old Juan Castro-Castro, who once lived in Shelbyville, Kentucky, received the prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring with others to bring fraudulently acquired tax refunds to Nashville.
Authorities say testimony at the sentencing showed that Castro-Castro and others used false names to submit more than 100 fraudulent tax returns in Kentucky that claimed refunds were owed. The refund checks were mailed by the IRS to one of four Kentucky addresses.
Authorities say an accomplice in Nashville cashed the refund checks several times each week.
Prosecutors say Castro-Castro is in the country illegally.
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PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) - An animal nutrition company plans to begin operating a distillery and brewery in eastern Kentucky.
The Lexington Herald-Leader (https://bit.ly/1qPs6Oq) reports Alltech has agreed to purchase a former funeral home in downtown Pikeville that will serve as the location.
The company already operates a brewery and distillery central Kentucky and a distillery in Ireland, where Alltech founder Pearse Lyons is from.
Some leaders in economically depressed eastern Kentucky are looking to tourism to help reinvigorate the region, and they are using the success of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, as a model.
One major draw to that area is the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery.
Alltech has diverse interests, but recently has focused efforts in Ireland.
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