A former business owner who used the Internet to defraud customers of $1.5 million has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Darin French, 40, was convicted alongside his wife Jennifer, 38, after perpetrating an eBay scam which allowed the couple to live in relative luxury.
A jury in federal court in Reno found Mr. Darin guilty of 22 counts of mail fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.
His wife, who was convicted of 14 counts of mail fraud, six counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering, will be sentenced next month, reports the Reno Gazette Journal.
The couple created a website called Look What We Got, where discounted high-end appliances were advertised for sale.
Claiming to be authorized dealers, they created fake customer feedback records on eBay to bolster their e-commerce credibility.
Customers believed they were purchasing goods through eBay but they were actually diverted to the Look What We Got domain. The ordered goods were never shipped.
Prosecutors described the online credit card scam as “sophisticated.”