DE LAND, Fla. -- More than two years after being convicted of wire fraud, a former Florida convenience-store executive was sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison on Friday, according to a Daytona Beach News-Journal report.
Stephen DeLuca, 57, was convicted in March 2013 of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and 32 counts of wire fraud. Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon II sentenced DeLuca to 78 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to the report. The prosecutor had asked for a sentence of 11 to 14 years.
DeLuca, a former president of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, is expected to appeal the sentencing. He is scheduled to surrender in June.
DeLuca owned a chain of 22 Fina Express Marts in 1997 and at one point, owned 50 gas stations, three bulk storage facilities and dozens of other properties.
A former semi-pro football player, DeLuca was indicted in April 2011 when he was accused of falsely inflating the value of his company, Delco Oil, to get $18 million in loans from Capital Source Funding LLC.
Had DeLuca been truthful, the most he could have borrowed would have been $5 million, according to a government sentencing memorandum.
His company, Delco Oil, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2006, claiming liabilities totaling $32.85 million and assets valued at $1.13 million.
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