An Ohio man sentenced to prison for fraud; How the victims realized they were being scammed
An Ohio man was convicted of wire fraud and sentenced to prison for selling fake hunting leases on properties where he had no authority, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
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Nathan L. Know, 30, of Mechanicsburg, was found guilty on Sept. 8 by the U.S. District Court in Southern Ohio, a press release from the ODNR spokesperson.
Know was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, three years of supervised release and restitution of $18,037, ODNR said.
Court documents show that Know placed advertisements on social media to sell supposed hunting leases in Ohio, but he never had the right to sell them, the release said.
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The defendant charged his clients around $400 to $5,000 for the leases. ODNR said he solicited payments from at least 68 different people and in total received $34,000 from 59 of those individuals.
His scheme came to an end in September of 2019 when the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office arrested Know while attempting to scam two victims from Florida.
The victims had travelled to the supposed lease site to check out the area when they were greeted by the real owner of the land, the release said.
This is when the victims realized they were being scammed and contacted the sheriff’s office to meet with the defendant, who was then arrested, the spokesperson said.
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Ohio Wildlife Investigator, Kandy Klosterman, collaborated with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and federal court to investigate the case, according to the release.
Anyone who witnesses a wildlife violation in Ohio should call 1-800-POACHER, reports are kept anonymous, ODNR said.
