FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	August 8, 2012
Docket #: 2:11-cr-183

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Carlos B. Jerez, 35, formerly of Sacramento and most recently of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was sentenced today by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to eight months in prison and an additional four months of home confinement for his role in a scheme to defraud customers of his medical mobility business, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
           

Judge Mueller observed that Jerez did not seem to have yet developed “a full level of empathy for the victims” in the case. She ordered Jerez, after his release from prison, to complete 50 hours of community service specifically with organizations that provide services for people with mobility impairments. The judge also ordered Jerez to pay a $10,000 fine and restitution to all known victims for their financial losses.

According to court documents, Jerez was the owner of 1st Class Mobility Inc., a business that offered to sell motorized wheelchairs and scooters over the Internet. Between April 2008 and April 2009, Jerez and 1st Class Mobility received payment from consumers for motorized wheelchairs and scooters without the ability or intention of delivering the devices. Despite receiving prepayment for the chairs, Jerez would not deliver the products ordered by the customers and would make various misrepresentations about the status of the products, such as claiming that the products had shipped, or were stuck in customs, or were on a slow ship from China. Jerez would falsely claim that refunds were available or that a refund check had been issued. A number of the victims were disabled, elderly, or disabled veterans.
           

This case was the product of an investigation by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office as part of the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force, which is a partnership between state and local law enforcement to investigate crimes including fraud using computers and the Internet. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew G. Morris prosecuted the case.

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