HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston man was sentenced to five years probation for participating in a rebate scheme that defrauded soda giant Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. of more than $1 million.
Joseph A. Isaac was sentenced during a court hearing in federal court on Wednesday. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in September.
Prosecutors said Isaac’s company was in charge of a rebate campaign by Dr Pepper that paid money to customers who returned bottle caps and paid vendors who agreed to switch to Dr Pepper Snapple Group products in restaurants and convenience store soda dispensers.
Authorities say Isaac, 54, failed to pay the rebates from 2010 to 2015 and instead pocketed the money.
Isaac had faced up to five years in prison.
Anna Maria Sites, who has also pleaded guilty in the rebate scheme, is set to be sentenced Feb. 6.
