EX-CHAIN OWNER GETS 22 YEARS IN FRAUD CASE

DON YEAGER

ST. LOUIS (FNS) -- A former owner of the defunct National Super Markets chain, here, was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, Ill., to 22 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

James R. Gibson, 57, of Belleville, Ill., earlier had pleaded guilty to bilking 140 persons of approximately $67 million.

Some of the money, according to court records, was used to bolster the faltering National chain, which operated 23 stores in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Gibson, whose background was in the insurance industry, created a business that catered to accident victims who were looking for tax-free investments for money obtained through suits or settlements.

However, Gibson instead diverted some of the money to the supermarket chain, which declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidated in 1999, according to prosecutors. Money was also channeled into Gibson's lavish lifestyle, they said. He was arrested last May on his yacht in Belize.

The sentencing followed an emotional 90-minute session during which U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy heard from some of the people defrauded by Gibson, according to press reports.

After listening to their testimony, the judge said, "If you can't be moved by the human tragedy, you are less than human. In this case, the defendant stole from widows, disabled people and orphans."

Gibson's National stores had been owned for a short time by Schnuck Markets, here, as part of its 1994 acquisition of National, a division of Loblaw Cos., Toronto. The Federal Trade Commission ordered Schnuck to divest the units in order to preserve competition in the marketplace.

Industry sources said that before the acquisition, Schnuck had an estimated 33% of the St. Louis market, with National garnering 28%.