Staff writer
Hillsboro made headlines Tuesday as the last known address for a man indicted on federal charges of committing $8 million in wire fraud.
The accused, David K. Lawson, 70, was listed as living at 220 N. Lincoln St. in Hillsboro. However, that property never has been listed in his name and was reported sold last year by former Hillsboro resident Renee Livingston-Lawson, 58, now of Missouri, who was known as Renee Livingston when she purchased it in 2010.
She made news in March 2015 when she reported to Hillsboro police that she’d returned to her Hillsboro house after an extended time in Missouri and discovered missing and damaged property, animal feces, and about 50 sticky notes with “I love you” written on them stuck in various locations.
Annual reports for Lawson’s company, Sonstone Trading, LLC, listed addresses in Hillsboro, Hutchinson, Pratt, Cheney, and Kiowa.
Two documents filed the same day in 2014 listed addresses in both Hillsboro and Cheney. The Cheney address is the office of a certified public accountant.
After this newspaper phoned a number found on those records, Lawson returned a call and said he lived in the Branson, Missouri, area and knew nothing about the matter.
According to a release from the U.S. attorney’s office in Wichita, Lawson contracted to sell 90 barrels a day of crude oil to Parnon Gathering Inc., but instead provided raw gas oil.
According to the release, Lawson could serve up to 20 years in federal prison, be fined as much as $250,000 and be ordered to pay restitution.