Alan McKee, 57, of Benjamin, on Friday, Oct. 14, pleaded guilt to theft and pattern of unlawful activity. As part of his plea deal, four counts of second-degree felony communications fraud were dropped.

McKee faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced by 3rd District Court Judge Vernice Trease on Nov. 28.

This spring, Union Pacific Railroad police saw crews removing railroad tracks from the land, and were told it was on the instruction of McKee. About seven miles of track were removed, costing the railroad between $189,000 and $240,000, according to court documents. McKee, who remains in the Salt Lake County Jail, has agreed to pay restitution.

Prosecutors say McKee, a businessman whose company was once named Utah County Business of the Year, has sought to profit off a stretch of Utah County railroad that he does not own. The allegations date back to August 2015 and continued after McKee posted bail in February.

According to the charges, two companies, R&R Equipment and Greenbox Recycling, gave McKee checks totaling $70,000 for removing and recycling materials from the rail after McKee showed them a letter indicating he owned the stretch of railroad track.

Union Pacific Railroad discovered the theft in May and told R&R to stop removing the rail, charges state. In response, investigators say they have collected text messages and have a recorded phone call from McKee telling R&R he is resolving the issue with the railroad.

Union Pacific records show McKee has never owned the stretch of track, and checks to him have been canceled by the state, charges state.

In testimony Tuesday, witnesses described the deal made with McKee in September 2015 when he approached Ronald Mattinson, owner of R&R Equipment and a partner with McKee on another project, about pulling up a section of track on the Tintic Rail Line near Elberta."I understood that he either owned it or had the rights to it," said Mattinson, who came back to McKee with a bid the next day.

Mattinson brought in Gary Applegate, the owner of Greenbox Recycling, and together they began pulling rail line, ties, spikes and plating from the stretch of track, most of which was sold to other companies.

R&R and Greenbox were left with outstanding contracts to sell the materials collected from the rail line. Applegate, who had agreed to sell railroad ties to Home Depot, said he ended up scrambling to buy ties at a higher rate from providers in other states to avoid defaulting on the deal.

Aaron Peterson, vice president of Peterson Holdings, said his company had agreed to purchase 13 miles of track from the project to use in its industrial yard. About 2 miles of track has been laid, he testified, while another 4 miles' worth sit untouched at the stalled site.