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February 29, 2008

Fort Oglethorpe man sentenced for Internet fraud involving eBay

Submitted by the U.S. Attorney's Office



ROME — Kary Dean Head, 50, of Fort Oglethorpe, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Harold L. Murphy on a wire fraud charge arising from a scheme to defraud bidders on eBay, the Internet auction service, of over $150,000.

“This defendant attempted to use the anonymity of the Internet to steal more than $150,000 from unsuspecting victims,” said United States Attorney David E. Nahmias. “Members of the public should be able to buy merchandise over the Internet without worry that their money will be stolen by those like Mr. Head who use the Internet to commit fraud. Unfortunately, Internet users should be careful, because many such fraud schemes exist. Federal law enforcement will continue to aggressively pursue Internet fraud in this district.”

Head was sentenced to 2 years, 10 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Head was ordered to pay $136,498.45 restitution to victims of his fraud. Head pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud on September 12, 2007.

According to United States Attorney Nahmias and the information presented in court: Head solicited bids on eBay for rolls of American Silver Eagle coins that he did not have and could not deliver. Head accepted payment from over a hundred winning bidders, but never delivered the coins that the bidders believed they were purchasing from him. When the bidders tried to contact Head by mail, telephone or electronically, he either lied to them about the pending delivery of their coins or he ignored their inquiries completely. When Head appeared to provide refunds to some bidders, his checks bounced for insufficient funds. After eBay shut down Head’s on-line business, Head simply switched his fraud scheme to a different account with eBay that was in his girlfriend’s name and continued to accept payment for coins that he did not have and could not deliver. Financial records show that Head used the proceeds that he received from this fraudulent scheme to fund other business ventures and pay personal expenses.

This case was investigated by Inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant United States Attorneys William L. McKinnon, Jr., and Lawrence R. Sommerfeld prosecuted the case.



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