Mastermind of Kickback Scheme Sentenced to Prison, Fined $100,000

A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Huntington Beach man to 21 months in prison and ordered him to pay $100,000 in fines for masterminding a kickback scheme that defrauded an aerospace subcontractor of $470,000.

Richard S. Berry, 37, pleaded guilty in September to two counts of mail fraud. U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie in Los Angeles also ordered Berry’s company, Advanced Cutting Tools Inc., to pay a fine of $100,000.

Berry paid $50,000 in kickbacks to Paul Shoemaker, 52, of Mission Viejo to defraud Garrett Industrial Supply Co. of Los Angeles and its parent company, Allied-Signal AiResearch Co. Shoemaker stole parts, gave them to Advanced Cutting and covered up the act by creating phony invoices, said Jeffrey C. Eglash, assistant U.S. attorney.

Shoemaker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive kickbacks and was sentenced in September to serve 27 months in prison. Berry was the last of the defendants to be sentenced for participating in the scheme.

Others sentenced earlier in the case were Berry’s brother, Marcus Berry, 52, of Corona del Mar. Marcus Berry pleaded guilty to charges of paying kickbacks and received a six-month prison term.

And Stjepan Herceg, 48, of Huntington Beach was given a six-month sentence--half to be served in jail and half under house arrest--and was ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution, Eglash said.