Former Marengo Man Heads to Federal Prison, for 11 Years

A former Marengo man, described by a judge as a “pernicious, self-absorbed, and cold-hearted person,” was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison on fraud and tax convictions, authorities said.

John M. Volpentesta, 54, was also “oblivious to the pain he causes other people,” U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Kapala wrote in a court order he issued Tuesday.

“The court has observed defendant’s actions, expressions, and demeanor while testifying in this court and in this court’s estimation the truth for defendant has very little connection to reality or actuality. The truth in defendant’s mind had been perverted to mean whatever profits or benefits him, as he is unfettered by any desire or sense of moral obligation to tell the truth,” Kapala wrote.

In addition to the prison sentence, Volpentesta was ordered to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term and must pay restitution in the amount of $1,378,127.03 to the victims of his fraud scheme, according to a release from federal prosecutors.

Volpentesta was convicted in July by a federal jury on two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of failing to pay over to the IRS taxes he withheld from the wages of his employees, three counts of failing to file unemployment tax returns, and three counts of failing to file personal income tax returns, according to federal authorities.

The charges arose from a construction company, Volpentesta Construction, Inc. in Marengo. The company, also known as VCI, defrauded at least four families who had contracted the company to build homes, federal authorities said.

Volpentesta obtained large sums of money from families by falsely stating VCI had done to work actually done by subcontractors; fraudulent billing; billing customers for materials used on other projects and charging additional fees, according to the indictment.

Customers and investors were taken for more than $1 million, federal authorities said.

He was also charged with the 17 federal tax charges stemming from federal taxes_ totaling $165,999_ he collected from VCI employees, which he failed to pay to the IRS, according to the indictment.