Federal Judges Sentence Three For Fraud-Related Crimes

Federal judges in Wyoming sentenced several people for fraud-related crimes in the past week, according to a news release from the Wyoming U.S. Attorney's Office.
Chief Federal District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal sentenced Paula Quinton, 59, of Rock Springs for mail fraud based on Quinton’s admitted participation in a scheme to defraud individuals who responded to Internet sales offerings.

The scheme partly entailed unknown persons advertising merchandise for sale on the Internet. When an unsuspecting individual responded to the advertisement and agreed to purchase the nonexistent merchandise, the victim was instructed to send the money to Quinton.

Based on instructions Quinton received from her online “boyfriend,” whom she had never met in person, she would keep a small portion of the money that she received and forward the rest to Nigeria and other places. Quinton continued to do this even after she had been warned by federal authorities that the money she was receiving was stolen and she was participating in a fraud.

Quinton received three years supervised probation and was ordered to pay $2,075 in restitution.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Freudenthal also sentenced Stephanie Lenore Maciel, 64, of Sedona, Ariz., for conspiracy to defraud the United States. Maciel received three years of probation with special conditions. Freudenthal also ordered her to pay a $100 special assessment and $90,427 in restitution.

Maciel is among several defendants who were convicted in May in a larger case of tax fraud and obstructing a grand jury investigation.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.

U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl sentenced Amanda R. Buell, 38, of Buffalo for uttering counterfeit obligations of the United States.

Buell's friend and co-defendant Wyatt McMahon told Skavdahl during his guilty plea in May that he downloaded pictures of $100 bills and printed 15 of them. McMahon, is scheduled to be sentenced at the federal courthouse in Casper on Wednesday.

During her guilty plea in May, Buell said she passed some of those counterfeit bills at a liquor store in Buffalo.

Skavdahl sentenced to one year imprisonment, to be followed by three years of probation. He also ordered her to pay a $100 special assessment and $100 in restitution. This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.