The co-founder of a Richmond, Va.-based association representing tobacco manufacturers pled guilty to mail fraud Oct. 11, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Ronald Tully, 57, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the newspaper. He has also agreed to pay at least $833,599 to the Council of Independent Tobacco Manufacturers, a trade group he helped launch in 2003.

CITMA closed in 2016, the Times-Dispatch reported. While a founder, Tully was not an employee or paid consultant to the association, though he managed the council's bank accounts for his employer, the National Tobacco Co., which was a member. Prosecutors allege he wrote council checks to himself and later to a consulting company he created.

Tully is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 10 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He was allowed to remain free on bond pending sentencing. http://bit.ly/2yJGPEA

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