Lebanon, Virginia halfway house, former president sentenced for wire fraud, false statements
ABINGDON, Va. (WJHL) — The former president and director of Secor, Inc., a federal halfway house in Lebanon, Virginia used to house inmates, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for making false statements and wire fraud, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday.
In November 2023, Matthew Castle, 35, of Lebanon, Virginia and the company Secor, Inc. each pleaded guilty to one count of making materially false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative or judicial branch of the United States and one count of wire fraud. The company pleaded guilty through its attorney.
In 2018, Secor entered a contract with the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) that allowed some offenders under the care of Secor to be assigned to “home confinement,” meaning those offenders resided at an approved residence not owned by Secor, a release from the DOJ said.
According to the DOJ, Castle and Secor failed to meet the requirements set in the contract.
Castle was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and Secor, Inc. was sentenced to one year of probation and will serve a term of probation of one to five years.
Both Castle and Secor paid $208,105 in restitution, forfeited $40,000 and paid an additional $30,000 in fines, the release stated.
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“This sentence serves as another example to those doing business with the United States – if you commit fraud, you will be held accountable,” United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said in the release. “As one of the first cases investigated internally by the United States Attorney’s Office and our financial fraud investigator, this marks the beginning of a new era for corporate criminal enforcement in the Western District of Virginia.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s new Financial Fraud Investigator investigated the case with assistance from the Russell County Sheriff’s Office and the BOP.
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