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ATLANTA — A Georgia federal court sentenced a Utah man to federal prison last week after he pleaded guilty to operating a fake veterans charity and illegal robocall scam to bilk cars, money and other items from victims.
Travis Deloy Peterson, 54, of West Ephriam, was sentenced on March 23 to three years and five months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, according to federal court records. Peterson must also repay over $540,000 in restitution to the victims of his scam.
Peterson pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in November after he was accused of running a fraud scheme that used millions of robocalls to urge people to donate vehicles and other items that would go toward veterans charities, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. The scam — which often targeted senior citizens — netted Peterson over $500,000, according to the release.
"Peterson shamelessly defrauded thousands of people while supposedly helping veterans," U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Kurt Erskine said in the news release. "Fraudsters rely on the goodwill of unsuspecting citizens to perpetrate their schemes. With our law enforcement partners, we will track them down and bring them to justice."
Peterson registered companies that he represented to be tax-exempt charities in Utah, Nevada and Michigan, and ran the scheme between April 2012 and July 2018. However, none of the companies were actual tax-exempt charities, according to prosecutors.
Peterson defrauded "thousands of people around the country into believing they were donating vehicles and other property to benefit veterans," according to the news release. Instead of the funding going toward veterans' charities, court records indicate the money went to Peterson's personal expenses, including payments to online dating services and the purchase of an ATV.
Before his charges in Georgia, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Peterson in Utah's federal court, which led to an April 1, 2019, order that permanently barred him from soliciting charitable donations and making robocalls. The same order called for Peterson to forfeit 88 vehicles.
Peterson, who was out on bond at the time of his sentencing hearing last week, was allowed to voluntarily surrender to authorities, according to court records. He will serve his prison term with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
