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Browns owner Jimmy Haslam's family business, Pilot Flying J, is under federal investigation amid allegations that sales employees defrauded trucking companies on fuel rebates. Three former employees pleaded guilty Monday.

(The Plain Dealer)

Pilot Flying J is the largest travel center business in America.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One of Jimmy Haslam's top sales executives with Pilot Flying J

admitted Monday that he helped fleece trucking companies out of more than $7 million in a rebate scam that

and national scrutiny to the Browns' owner.

Brian Mosher, the company's national director of sales, was one of

three former employees who pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tenn., involving the family company of Haslam. The others, Christopher Andrews and Lexie Holden, bring the number of people charged in the case to 10.

Mosher pleaded guilty to complicity to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, while Andrews and Holden admitted to separate charges of conspiracy. Each of the three -- like the others charged in the case -- has agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Mosher's plea agreement says he was responsible for defrauding between 50 and 250 customers. The plea agreement puts the loss that he is responsible for at between $7 million and $20 million.

It is unclear how much money Andrews defrauded from trucking companies, as prosecutors did not release a dollar amount in his plea agreement. He worked as a regional sales representative in Texas.

Andrews told investigators that the scheme "had gone on for quite some time prior to his employment (in 2010), based on how openly it was discussed,'' according to his plea agreement. He also said he refused to mention the scheme in emails because he knew it was "shady,'' according to the agreement.

In one instance, a company found that Pilot Flying J had siphoned too much of the trucking business' money, according to the plea agreement. Andrews told the firm that it was an inadvertent error, but he knew he had been caught, the agreement said.

Prosecutors said Holden worked as an account representative for Mosher and others. She actively took part in the scheme, and prosecutors said she fleeced between 10 and 50 victims. They said she helped defraud between $400,000 to $1 million from trucking companies.

"I'm happy to hear that the wheels of justice are finally turning,'' said Curt Morehouse, an Omaha, Neb., trucking company that lost about $150,000 from Pilot Flying J in the scheme and was later repaid. "There are thousands of Pilot Flying J employees who have done nothing wrong, and we'll continue to deal with them. Mr. Haslam did make my company whole.

"And now I'll take the high road. My mother always taught me that if you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say anything at all.''

Late last year, Pilot paid $85 million in a settlement with several trucking companies that claimed Haslam's company skimmed fuel rebate and discount payments. That settlement

reimbursed truckers for what they were owed, plus 6 percent interest on the debt, and covered their legal costs.

Haslam has steadfastly denied that he had any knowledge of the scheme. In a statement,

said it was "disappointed and saddened to learn of any team members admitting to knowingly and intentionally acting in a manner detrimental to the best interests of our customers.''

A federal affidavit, filed last April, says Haslam knew about the scheme because he was in sales meetings in which it was discussed.

Mosher represents one of the key sales leaders snared in the probe. The affidavit indicates that Cathy Giesick, a former regional manager for the Pilot Flying J, told federal agents that Mosher intentionally withheld a portion of the agreed-upon rebate with truckers and companies.

The document, written by an FBI agent who specializes in public corruption and white-collar crime, said the investigation began May 4, 2011, when a source told the FBI that Pilot employees had been defrauding some companies who were “too unsophisticated to catch that their agreed-upon deal with Pilot was being changed to benefit Pilot without the knowledge of those customers.”

The affidavit says Mosher spoke with employees during a sales meeting in November. The meeting was recorded by a cooperating witness for the FBI.

“Some of ’em, some of ’em don’t know what a spreadsheet is,” Mosher said, according to the affidavit. “I’m not kiddin’. So, again, my point is this: Know your customer . . . If the guy’s sophisticated and he truly has gone out and gotten deals from other competitors and he’s getting daily prices from us, don’t jack his discounts, ’cause he’s gonna know, okay?”

The document said that if a customer was due a $10,000 rebate, Mosher would cut it to $7,500. An informant said Mosher

cut the rebates to customers “because it made more money for Pilot and it increased the commission that Mosher

and any other Pilot salesperson responsible for the customer would receive.”

Other Pilot Flying J sales officials who have pleaded guilty are: Scott Fenwick, Janet Welch, James Stinnett, Holly Radford, Kevin Clark, Arnold Ralenkotter and Ashley Judd.