The co-owners and seven office managers of telemarketing firm Gecko Communications Inc. have been sentenced to federal prison for defrauding 83,000 consumers of $15.7 million in a fraudulent credit-card scheme, law enforcement officials announced earlier this week.
According to prosecutors, Gecko Communications falsely offered people with bad credit pre-approved credit cards if they agreed to debit their bank accounts for between $159.95 and $229.95. But rather than cards and improved credit, all consumers got for their money was an application, according to officials.
Prosecutors estimated that Gecko defrauded 83,000 consumers of $15.7 between August 1999 and February 2001.
As a result, Christopher L. Carlson, 37, of Glenwood, IA, and Jason R. Spencer, 27, of Osceola, IA were sentenced to two years in federal prison without parole. Steven T. Rice, 45, of Kansas City, MO, was sentenced to two years and 11 months in federal prison without parole.
The three were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after their jail terms and to pay $6,048 in restitution each.
They pleaded guilty in March to aiding and abetting telemarketing wire fraud.
Carlson, Spencer and Rice managed offices in Stanton, IA, Kansas City, MO and Lawrence, KA, respectively, according to officials.
In related sentencing, Zachery T. Whitehill, 30, of Sahuarita, AZ, was ordered to serve 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole. Jaime E. Cook, 31, of Kansas City, MO, was sentenced to five years in federal prison without parole. Bradley L. Lovstad, 45, of Muscantine, IA and Monty E. Wanless, 31, of Kansas City, MO were sentenced to eight years and one month in federal prison without parole.
Whitehill was co-owner of Gecko. Cook, Lovstad and Wanless were managers at various offices in Kansas City, MO, Shawnee, KA, Des Moines, IA and Brooklyn, IA, according to law enforcement officials.
The four were also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after their jail terms and pay $6,048 in restitution each.
In a separate but related case, Christopher J. Ekeland, 39, of Shawnee, KA, co-owner of Gecko Communications, was sentenced to four years in federal prison without parole and three years of supervised release. The court also ordered Ekeland to pay $6,048 in restitution.
Ekeland pleaded guilty on Sept. 16, 2004, to telemarketing wire fraud and money laundering and agreed to forfeit $10.6 million, two Guy Buffet paintings worth about $3,000 each, 350 computers and other hardware, and half the equity in his home, according to a news release.
In another separate but related case, Matt Thomas, 29, of Brooklyn, IA was sentenced to three of probation and ordered to pay $6,048. Thomas pleaded guilty on Oct. 19, 2005, to misprision f a felony, or knowing about a felony and failing to report it.
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