Hawaii Man Sentenced to Six Months for Wire Fraud

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Jonathan F. Cowles, 47, of Honolulu, Hawaii, and formerly of Rowley, Massachusetts, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Jon D. Levy to six months in prison and three years of supervised release for wire fraud.  Cowles was also ordered to pay $359,784.90 in restitution. He pled guilty on January 22, 2018.

According to court records and evidence, between March and June 2014, the defendant used interstate wires to skim about $25,000 in commissions to which he was not entitled from his employer, Maine Coast Shellfish, LLC (Maine Coast), a lobster wholesaler located in York, Maine.  As part of his fraudulent scheme, he also caused Maine Coast to ship about 50,000 lbs. of lobster worth $359,784.90 to a customer in China whose true identity he concealed and for which Maine Coast was not paid.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the York Police Department.