CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Danville man was sentenced Thursday for stealing from programs receiving federal funds.
Jerry D. Elkins, 54, received three years of federal probation, including 10 months on home detention. He must also pay $94,197.93 in restitution.
Elkins admitted to fraudulently obtaining $94,197.93 of federal abandoned mine land (AML) remediation sub-grant funds while he was employed by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). He also set up a shell limited liability company in order to receive a portion of the sub-grant award funds.
Court documents and statements show that from about April 2017 until on or about August 7, 2019, Elkins assisted Aleksey Krylov and one of Krylov’s companies with their application for a DEP AML pilot program sub-grant. The DEP receives grant funding from the United States Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE). Since 2016, the state of West Virginia has received $181 million in Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) block grant funds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Elkins and Krylov and his company proposed to construct and operate an aquaponics facility that would produce commercial quantities of vegetables and fruits at a project site near Madison. In August and September of 2018, Elkins registered a limited liability company, Wanaque River Holdings LLC (“Wanaque”), in Delaware. He then opened a bank account for the company at a bank in Charleston, West Virginia. Elkins admitted that Wanaque had no other legitimate business purpose besides receiving obscure payments from Krylov.
From about October 19, 2018, to around August 7, 2019, Wanaque received $94,197.93 in electronic fund transfers and checks from Krylov and his companies. Elkins admitted that he fraudulently converted the money that originated from the aquaponics project’s sub-grant reimbursements from the DEP.
The U.S Attorney’s Office also said that Elkins admitted to trying to conceal and cover up his activity and the nature of his dealings with Krylov by failing to list his interest in Wanaque when he signed the federal OSMRE State Employee Statement of Employment and Financial Interest form on February 20, 2019.
On July 27, 2023, Krylov, 42, of South Orange, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting theft from programs receiving federal funds. He’s awaiting his sentencing.
