Former Millbrae Resident Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison

SAN FRANCISCO – Angelo Degenhardt was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $55,600 in restitution for posting fraudulent auctions for automobiles on eBay, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Andrew Adelmann.

Degenhardt pleaded guilty to an Indictment charging him with 12 counts of wire fraud. According to the plea agreement, Degenhardt admitted to taking control of an eBay account in September 2012 that had previously been used by his wife. He thereafter posted auctions on eBay for various vehicles, including for two Hummers and a Ferrari. Three eBay users submitted winning bids for those automobiles and sent payment to Degenhardt at a PayPal account that he controlled, as well as to his Citibank account. Degenhardt thereafter immediately removed the funds from his PayPal account by transferring them to another Citibank account he controlled, to his wife and children, and to his landlord for payment of rent. Once the buyers realized that the auctions had been fraudulent, they complained to eBay and/or its subsidiary PayPal, which refunded their payments in the total amount of $55,600.

Degenhardt, 57, formerly of Millbrae, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 15, 2013. He was charged with 12 counts of wire fraud. Degenhardt is currently serving a two-year sentence imposed by the U.S. District Court in the District of Utah for a violation of his supervised release in a case pending there. The 18-month sentence, imposed today, will be served consecutively to the sentence Degenhardt received in Utah.

The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Thelton E. Henderson, United States District Court Judge in San Francisco, following a guilty plea on 12 counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343. Judge Henderson also sentenced the defendant to a three-year period of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution to PayPal in the amount of $55,600.

Kyle F. Waldinger is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Rawaty Yim. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service.

(Degenhardt indictment )