‘Whiskey Dix’ trucking co. owner sentenced to 9 years for deleting diesel emissions controls, $3 million in fraud, witness tampering
A Missouri business owner was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay millions in restitution for bank fraud, Clean Air Act violations, and threatening witnesses.
On February 11, Farmington, Missouri resident Christopher Lee Carroll, 55, was sentenced to 108 months in prison and ordered to pay $3 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Trucking company Whiskey Dix Big Truck Repair LLC was also found guilty of 16 Clean Air Act violations and sentenced to 3 years probation.
In August 2024, Carroll was convicted of three counts of bank fraud, three counts of making false statements to a financial institution, one count of conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act, 13 violations of the Clean Air Act and two counts of threatening a witness.
According to officials, Carroll and his business partner George Reed owned a time share exit company called Square One Group LLC. In April of 2020, the pair fraudulently applied for a $1.2 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan under the names of their spouse to conceal Carroll’s status as a paroled felon and to shield Carroll from any potential liability for the fraud.
Instead of using the PPP loan for their existing time share exit company, Carroll used the money to start trucking company, Whiskey Dix.
Authorities say that Carroll and Reed falsely claimed to have used the PPP loan as intended on payroll and other allowable expenses, and went on to seek a second loan of more than $1.6 million, taking a total of $660,000 in “owner draws” from the company after the loan was approved.
“The Clean Air Act violations relate to emissions control equipment designed to reduce pollutants. Carroll had that equipment taken off Whiskey Dix’s fleet of diesel trucks. Carroll asked one employee to “take the fall” for his crimes and told another that he would stop paying for the employee’s lawyer if he talked to federal agents, evidence and testimony showed. Carroll did stop paying for the lawyer,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Reed, 70, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in September of 2022 and was sentenced in January 2025 to time served. He was also ordered to pay $3 million in restitution.
“This prosecution reinforces our office’s priority of going after the worst pandemic fraudsters,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. “People like Christopher Carroll took advantage of a once-in-a-generation crisis to enrich themselves at the expense of struggling Americans. This office will continue to make sure that defendants like Carroll are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
“This latest conviction is the tip of the iceberg for this career criminal,” said FBI St. Louis Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson. “In addition to defrauding the taxpayer-funded loan program in this latest case, Chris Carroll bailed on customers to line his own pockets with the millions of dollars they paid him to help exit timeshares. Furthermore, Carroll’s violent criminal history includes being a convicted sex offender for forcible sodomy.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division.