On the rise: The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by 11 this week to 2,023, and Louisiana accounted for six of them. Houston-based drilling product provider Baker Hughes Inc. reports today that 1,080 rigs were exploring for oil and 936 for natural gas. Seven were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week the rig count stood at 1,670. Pennsylvania was up four rigs; New Mexico and Texas each increased by three; and Alaska, Arkansas, California and Wyoming were up one apiece. Oklahoma declined by five, Colorado and North Dakota dropped two, and West Virginia by one. The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. A low of 488 was recorded in 1999.
Going away: A New York businessman nicknamed “mini-Madoff” has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Nicholas Cosmo was also ordered to pay $179 million in restitution—money he no longer has. Cosmo pleaded guilty last year to mail and wire fraud, and was sentenced today in U.S. District Court on Long Island. He is the former head of the Long Island-based Agape World and Agape Merchant Advance in New York City. Agape solicited investors to fund short loans to help companies get temporary financing. Cosmo promised up to 80% returns, but later admitted to using investors’ money for personal investments. Bernard Madoff admitted to cheating charities, celebrities and institutional investors out of billions. Cosmo’s victims, who number more than 4,000, were largely blue-collar workers and veterans. He got his nickname when he was busted just weeks after Madoff was arrested in December 2008.
Undue influence: A businessman who was overseeing construction of a jail in Plaquemines Parish has pleaded guilty to bribing the parish’s sheriff, who also is charged in the case. Aaron Bennett of New Orleans faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison following his guilty plea today to bribery and conspiracy charges. Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Irvin “Jiff” Hingle resigned last week just before the charges against him and the 42-year-old businessman were announced. Federal prosecutors said Bennett paid Hingle $30,000 in bribes after the sheriff approved and paid invoices submitted by Bennett’s company. Also in federal court today, Hingle pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy charge. Bennett is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 22.
