Florida man convicted in federal court in a case involving a Hicksville-based business

A Florida man has been convicted in federal court of conspiracy and wire fraud in a case involving a Hicksville-based business. A federal jury found 30 year old Justin Pennington of Jacksonville, guilty of one count of conspiracy and nine counts of wire fraud last week. Pennington faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count and mandatory restitution of approximately $5 million. His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 2. According to evidence presented at trial, while Pennington was employed as an information technology director at The Wholesale House, a Hicksville-based company with offices in Jacksonville, he and his co-conspirators created a fraudulent company named 3 Kings, LLC. 3 Kings was incorporated in Delaware in an attempt to conceal the identity of the owners who purchased products from The Wholesale House at or near cost and then resold those products to consumers and retailers.