Springfield Ad Agency Owner Sentenced for Making False Claims, Lying to Federal Agents False Claims Inflated Number, Cost of Anti-Drunk-Driving Billboards

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of Illinois
March 30, 2009

SPRINGFIELD, IL—U.S. District Judge Jeanne E. Scott today sentenced Robert G. Sullinger, owner of a Springfield advertising agency, to a term of 41 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In November 2008, Sullinger pled guilty to submitting false, inflated invoices related to an anti-drunk-driving billboard campaign funded through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and to lying to federal agents investigating the matter. Sullinger, 60, of Springfield, Illinois, was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on May 12, 2009, to begin serving his prison sentence.

Judge Scott further ordered that Sullinger pay restitution in the total amount of $524,500 to Sangamon county, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Federal Highway Administration. During today’s proceedings, the court recognized that Sullinger made an initial payment on March 27, 2009, of $8,397, toward the amount of restitution owed.

Sullinger, through Great Plains Group, LLC., was paid to produce and post anti-drunkdriving billboards throughout the state under a program by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation, that provided federal funding to states for various safety programs. Over a six-year period, from 1999 through 2004, Sullinger admitted that he, directly and through others, submitted false invoices that overstated the number of anti-drunk-driving poster billboards produced and posted. As a result, Sullinger was overpaid $524,500. Further, Sullinger admitted that when he was interviewed by FBI agents, he lied about material facts related to the investigation.

The charges resulted from an investigation by the FBI, Springfield Division; the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Transportation and the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Office of Quality Compliance and Review and General Counsel’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick D. Hansen and Jason M. Bohm.