Motorcycle Scam Figure Sentenced
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A Santa Monica man who was convicted of operating a $1.3-million marketing scam that promised customers a free motorcycle simply for test driving it was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in federal prison.
Joseph Samuel Filippo, 42, had pleaded guilty to three counts of mail fraud stemming from the telemarketing operation, which defrauded an estimated 4,000 people throughout the country.
Assistant U.S. Atty. David Katz said Filippo promised customers that they could win title to a new $1,000 motorcycle just by driving it, filling out a marketing questionnaire and mailing in $348 for shipping and promotional charges.
In fact, the prosecutor told U.S. District Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez, three-fourths of those who mailed in the money got nothing; the remainder got “a cruddy moped” that was worth about $140.
A co-defendant, Robert James Matthews, 40, of North Hollywood, has pleaded not guilty to 17 counts of mail fraud.
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