July 30, 2008
A federal judge in East St. Louis, Ill., has sentenced a Canadian man to more than 23 years in federal prison for his part in a telemarketing scam that took more than $8.2 million from 40,000 Americans.
Leslie Anderson, 56, was a key player in First Capital Consumers Group, a company that cold-called Americans with less than perfect credit offering them an opportunity to get a Mastercard or Visa credit card for a payment of between $189 to $219, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Consumers who fell for the scam didn't get the credit cards they expected. Instead, they got envelopes stuffed with ads and, in some cases, a worthless stored-value card. Prosecutors said the crime ring actually defrauded consumers of more than $19 million but managed to collect only about $8 million.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Reppert said the case was one of the most serious consumer fraud protection prosecutions ever brought by the Department of Justice.
Anderson could have faced 30 years to life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. His lawyer argued that he was less responsible than others involved in the scam and argued that sentencing guidelines for telemarketing were too harsh.
Anderson was found guilty by a jury in March of 18 counts of wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. His co-defendants, Lloyd Prudenza and David Dalglish, pleaded guilty.
Dalglish was sentenced Monday to 19 years and seven months in prison. Prudenza's sentencing has been postponed until October due to medical issues.
