Corona's Former Mayor Gets Probation For Lying To FBI

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former mayor of Corona has been sentenced for lying to FBI agents during a bankruptcy fraud investigation of the dog food company he founded.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise says Jeff Bennett was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to two years of probation with six months on home detention and a thousand hours of community service. He also was ordered to pay more than $10,000 in fines.

Bennett didn't explain why he lied to federal investigators. He didn't pay taxes for two years for his former company Earth Elements, which developed Nature's Recipe dog food.

As part of the plea agreement, Bennett agreed to file accurate tax returns and pay his taxes. He could have been sentenced to five years in federal prison.

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