KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Independence business owner who admitted he hired a man to burn down a rival business has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison.
Federal prosecutors say 44-year-old William “Bill” Joseph Reneau, of Overland Park, Kansas, was sentenced Tuesday to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $167,085 in restitution to his victims. Reneau pleaded guilty in August to single counts of arson and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Investigators say Reneau was the owner of Gold Rush Exchange in Independence when he hired a man to destroy Bobby Jackson’s Trading, a gold-buying business operated by a former employee of Reneau’s.
