Greeley man must pay for tampering with gas meters

A 53-year-old Greeley man was ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution to a gas drilling company today for tampering with production meters on natural gas wells. Rex William "Bill" Monahan must pay $400,000 of the restitution by 4 p.m. to DCP Midstream (formerly Duke Energy) in order not to violate his sentence, said Weld County District Attorney spokesperson Jennifer Finch. In April, Monahan pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft and one count of misdemeanor theft. Monahan was originally charged with four counts of felony theft in June 2007 after months of investigation by the DA's office, Finch said. The tampering, which occurred from July 2004 through May 2006, produced false output readings from each of the wells resulting in more than $1 million in losses to Duke Energy, Finch said. Monahan was also sentenced by... [read full story]