Ohio Businessman Scammed By Nigerian E-Mailers: Court Deletes His 3-Year Prison Sentence

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A federal appeals court has vacated a 37-month prison sentence facing Lorain County real estate broker Anthony Ross for cashing counterfeit checks that originated in an overseas e-mail scam. The ruling by the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati is 9-pages long and includes a dissent from Judge Alice M. Batchelder of Medina County, who said the sentence was proper because Ross intended to defraud banks in cahoots with the Nigerian Internet crooks.

Ross, whose underlying conviction was left intact, owned Northshore Realty and E.A.R. Investors, companies formed to develop, sell and construct low-income housing in Lorain County. He suffered financial losses and had to file a personal bankruptcy in 2003.

Eventually, he got in contact with the scammers, whom he claimed led him on with promises of investment funds. There were at least 40 e-mails. Cleveland U.S. District Judge Ann Aldrich presided over the trial and sentencing, and will have to resentence Ross in Cleveland federal court sometime later this year. The appeals court ruling did not set a date:

"In the present case, the government offered evidence that over the course of two years Ross passed a $90,000 counterfeit check, received a suspicious and counterfeit $346,000 check in the mail, and deposited a counterfeit $5,000 check. Additionally, during that same period a counterfeit $700,000 Treasury check was mailed to his bank with instructions to be deposited in his account. the jury also considered more than fort e-mails between Ross and the 'Nigerians' and listened to Ross from the witness stand."

The court added:

"While this case presents a close evidentiary call, we do not believe Ross has met his very heavy burden for showing the evidence was insufficient. The jury chose not to believe Ross's testimony and found that there was enough circumstantial evidence of Ross's motive to commit bank fraud. Ross was in dire financial straits. Ross had filed for personal bankruptcy. Ross needed money to pay debts to keep his businesses afloat . . . The circumstantial evidence calls into doubt Ross's story that he was simply the victim on an elaborate Nigerian counterfeit check scam."

Ohio Pervert Shows Naked Baby On Webcam While He Masturbates

DAYTON (TDB) -- Federal prosecutor Greg Lockhart says an Ohio man who stripped an infant, held it up before a camera and then masturbated "while broadcasting it over the 'webcam' to other unknown indviduals watching over their computers" is headed to the slammer for 10 years. The 52-year-old sexual offender used the screen name CuriousDayton and apparently prowled the 'net trying to get people to show him pictures of children.

That seems horrifying, right? But it gets worse. The baby's parents left it in child care where a predator gained access.

Lockhart is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. His jurisdiction includes the cities of Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. The perpetrator lived in the Dayton suburb of Kettering and was sentenced March 12.

The masturbation incident took place in March 2004. The infant who appeared in the Webcam broadcast was staying with a relative of the offender who ran a family day care operation. Lockhart said the criminal is headed to a federal prison that provides treatment for sexual offenders.

''Who is more vulnerable of a victim than an infant. We must continued every effort toward providing a safe childhood for every child from infancy through adolescence."

The Justice Department press release is HERE, and it says federal agents arrested the perp at his home last May. The Internet is a great advance in communications, and a great tool. But it has a dark side. The episode in Dayton illustrates just how much the 'net can be abused.