TAUNTON — A Taunton man who owns a food and beverage vending machine company has pleaded guilty to defrauding third party buyers out of almost $200,000.

Kevin Lennon, 54, was given a suspended sentence on Tuesday and ordered to pay $187,500 in restitution to victims, according to the state Attorney General's Office.

The president and owner of vending machine company KBL, Inc. was indicted in May on three counts of larceny and two counts of publishing false or exaggerated statements.

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KBL, Inc. started more than three decades ago as a family business that installs and services vending machines in commercial spaces, hospitals, and other locations.

Lennon took over the business in the past ten years and focused on selling "vending routes," or spots where KBL was operating the machines, to third party buyers, according to the AG's office.

These buyers wanted to run established vending routes in order to collect profits from food and drink sales.

Lennon admitted to making false promises to three of these buyers about expected profits using false promotions and fabricated financial statements.

Since 2017, he defrauded the victims out of around $187,500, inducing two people to pay him tens of thousands of dollars for vending routes that the A.G.'s office called "essentially worthless."

 

Lennon was sentenced to two years in the Bristol County House of Correction suspended for four years of probation.

Conditions of his probation include restitution payments to his victims, and stopping all sales, leases or licensing agreements for vending machine routes or any other vending-related services.

"This defendant sold false promises to aspiring small business owners on the strength of fabricated records and misleading agreements,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

"We are pleased that he will be held accountable for his crimes and pay restitution to his victims."

 

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