[R]UTLAND — A Shelburne man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for operating a fraud scheme to cheat several companies around the country out of money, according to court records.
Matthew Melvin, 36, was also ordered by Judge Geoffrey Crawford at his sentencing last week in federal court in Rutland to serve three years of supervised release after the prison term.
In addition, the judge ordered Melvin to pay more than $11,000 in restitution, as well as a $5,500 fine. Prosecutors are seeking an additional money forfeiture.
Melvin had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud, money laundering and making a false statement.
Federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum that Melvin operated a fraud scheme from 2008 through 2013.
Prosecutors said Melvin applied to several companies over that time period under stolen or assumed identities and persuaded them to wire and mail him money, according to the news release.
“Matthew Melvin has demonstrated a chronic aversion to the truth,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher wrote in his sentencing filing.
“He repeatedly lied to obtain employment,” the prosecutor added. “He commandeered the identities of others to facilitate those lies. He laundered the proceeds from his fraudulently obtained income. And he lied to his probation officer in an effort to hide the fact that he had, again, obtained a job offer by deceit, while subject to the court’s supervision.”
The prosecutor also wrote that Melvin obtained about $35,000 in income he should not have received.
The employers, Drescher added, not only didn’t know the true identity of their “employee,” but also didn’t know the risk associated with employing an entirely different person.
Those risks included Melvin’s past convictions for impersonating a police officer, forgery, possession of stolen property, credit card fraud and identity theft, according to the prosecutor.
“No employer in its right mind would take on the risk of employing such a person in a position with limited to no supervision,” Drescher wrote.
Attorney Paul Volk, representing Melvin, wrote in his sentencing memorandum that his client is in need of mental health treatment, something he said can best be obtained outside a prison setting.
Volk wrote that in the “vast” number of instances, his client provided work that the employers had hired him to do.
“The lack of literally any victim impact statement information or declaration of loss materials by any of the companies involved, and by none of the individuals involved, speaks volumes as to the actual lack of any significant loss triggering any restitution obligation of Mr. Melvin,” Volk wrote.
Melvin has been jailed since March, and it has had a “dramatic and a profound” effect on him, the defense attorney added.
The IRS with the help of the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case.
