Szudera sentenced to probation on mail fraud

A Havre man will spend four years on probation and was ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in fines and restitution for defrauding the federal government through the mail.

U.S. Chief District Judge Dana Christensen sentenced William Szudera, 76, in federal District Court in Great Falls. Szudera previously pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

Along with the probation, Christensen ordered Szudera to pay $83,700.59 in restitution and imposed a $3,000 fine.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a press release that Szudera — who was injured in 1970 while working for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Western Area Power Administration between 1970 and 1978 — represented to the Department of Labor that he was not working from 2001 to 2012 in his applications for worker’s compensation.

Szudera owned and operated B&G Shooting Supply in Havre starting in 1977, the press release said. His tax returns from 2002 to 2010 show that B & G Shooting had gross receipts ranging from approximately $500,000 to $750,000. The returns indicate a profit for every year with the exception of 2006.

Szudera’s income made him ineligible for approximately $277,484 in benefits he received from 2001 through 2012, the release said.