Two men accused of selling fake masterpiece paintings on an online auction site and inflating the bid prices pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud charges in federal court.
Kenneth Walton, 33, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud. Scott Beach, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and three mail fraud charges.
Walton, a Sacramento attorney, was accused of having nearly 20 different eBay login identities that he used to sell paintings and bid on paintings. Those login names hosted more than 250 auctions, according to court documents.
Beach, of Lakewood, Colo., is also accused of having many login identities that he used to drive up auction prices.
Both men faced five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on top of restitution payments. If they cooperate with the federal investigation, they could be sentenced to probation.
A third man, Kenneth Fetterman, 33, of Placerville is a fugitive, prosecutors said.
Harold Rosenthal, Walton's attorney, said his client would cooperate with the investigation but did not know where Fetterman was living.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
suebeckmeyer said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.