KEARNEY — Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning presented the United Way of the Kearney Area with a check for $55,000, about the amount that a gas station overcharged the community a couple years ago.
“There were gas stations in Kearney who were overcharging customers,” Bruning said. “They were selling ethanol-blended gasoline as regular unleaded.”
United Way Executive Director Lisa Reese Parish said the organization will have some decisions to make about how to use the money.
“Certainly, a great deal of it will help out this year’s campaign,” Parish said. “We’re off to a great start. It’s a pretty amazing windfall for us.”
Bruning said gas from stations owned by Kearney Liquor/B&S Ampride Inc. was tested and proved to be a different type than people believed they were buying.
“We had the option to charge them criminally,” Bruning said. “When all of these happened, the law didn’t allow the attorney general to aggregate the crime, so if you stole $2 from 1,000 people, that would be 1,000 misdemeanors.”
The funds are from a settlement the state of Nebraska made with the gasoline outlets in lieu of prosecution.
Bruning said the Legislature has changed the law. “Now, if they steal $2 from 1,000 people we can charge them with a felony,” he said.
Bruning said it was decided the best way to put the money back into the community was by giving it to the United Way.
“It’s an organization that takes care of the whole community, especially those who need it the most,” Bruning said. “United Way does a lot for people who really need it.”
Bruning said across the state about a dozen checks of this type have been distributed.
“This is one of the bigger ones, because of the breadth of the fraud that was going on here,” Bruning said. “We have a rough idea of how much they’ve stolen. Frankly, it’s a little bit of a swag. You do the best you can and try to get the highest amount of money you can for the community.”
In April, the Museum of Nebraska Art and Phelps and Harlan County Court Appointed Special Advocate received checks for more than $20,000 from a similar settlement with another gas station.
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