Businessman pleads guilty in theft of crates

FARMINGTON (AP) — A Michigan hauling company president has pleaded guilty to wire fraud after plastic crates valued at more than $2.9 million were sold to a recycling firm for about $460,000.

The Justice department said last Thursday that Arshawn Hall’s RAMA Enterprise, Inc., was hired to transport auto parts in the crates and return the empty crates to a facility in Detroit.

The government says the crates were diverted elsewhere.

Hall, of Farmington, also pleaded guilty last Thursday in federal court in Detroit to willfully failing to file a 2012 federal income tax return on behalf of RAMA Enterprise.

He is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 29 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and one year for the tax charge.