Peter A. Thosteson pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Thosteson was a licensed insurance agent in Alabama who was president of TMG Staffing Services Inc. and Alarre Partners Inc., professional employer organizations based in Dothan. TMG had a branch office in Tampa.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, TMG and Alarre contracted with various companies in Tampa, Orlando, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee to provide human resources services, including the purchase and administration of workers compensation insurance.

In a plea agreement Thosteson made in the case, he admitted to using the two companies to provide illegal and fraudulent workers compensation insurance to those client companies and the client companies' employees between March 2002 and May 2004 through Regency Insurance of the West Indies Ltd. and Transpacific International Insurance Co. Ltd. Neither company has never been authorized to write insurance in any state, had never paid a single claim, had no reserves or the ability to pay claims, and didn't even exist, the Attorney's Office said.

More than $4.8 million was paid by client companies through premium payments for the insurance and was rewired to personal accounts throughout the country, officials said. As part of his plea agreement, Thosteson agreed to pay a $4 million fine and make full restitution to corporate victims.

Thomas E. Brown, one of the principals of Regency and Transpacific, pleaded guilty last August on conspiracy and wire fraud and is awaiting sentencing. Thomas D. King was convicted last year of mail and wire fraud as well as money laundering charges involving the provision of Regency workers compensation insurance to client companies of his Jacksonville-based Miralink Inc. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison last May.

Three other people involved in the case -- Andrew Dyndul, Colton Coile and Michael McCafferty -- have previously pleaded guilty to related charges and also are awaiting sentencing.

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