EUGENE, Ore.—A man formerly residing in Newark, New Jersey was sentenced to federal prison today for his role in a scheme to deceive and cheat $1 million from an elderly man residing in Roseburg, Oregon.
Thomas Gerard Mautone, 43, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release. Mautone was also ordered to pay $1 million in restitution to his victim.
According to court documents and trial testimony, Mautone was one of five individuals who together perpetrated a scheme to convince an elderly man to invest $1 million in a fraudulent high-yield international investment scam. In July 2015, one of Mautone’s co-defendants, Jared Mack, 46, of Utah, made initial contact with the victim to pitch an investment opportunity claiming to produce weekly returns of 20%. Once the victim expressed interest in the purported investment opportunity – and produced evidence he had $1 million to invest – Mack introduced him to Mautone, the supposed connection to investment “platform partner,” and codefendant Olabode Olukanni, 39, of New York.
For several months, Mautone and his co-defendants maintained frequent contact with the victim and repeatedly attempted to assure him, via a series of increasingly intimidating and pressure-laden communications, of the investment opportunity’s legitimacy, low risk, and promised returns. Mautone made these false representations despite knowing that others had their money stolen by his supposed Hong Kong…
