Attorney General's News Release

May 27, 1997

New York telemarketer sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding elderly Cape Girardeau woman

Cape Girardeau, Mo. — A Buffalo, N.Y., telemarketer who confessed to cheating an elderly Cape Girardeau woman out of thousands of dollars was sentenced today to seven years in prison on two felony consumer fraud charges brought by Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Martin T. Boyd, 30, had pled guilty last month to the charges. He was sentenced today by Circuit Judge John Grimm to five years on the first count and two years on the second count, the sentences to run consecutive.

Boyd was arrested last August at a Western Union office in Buffalo while attempting to obtain money wired to him by a Missouri victim. The arrest came after an investigation conducted by the Missouri Attorney General's Office in conjunction with federal and local law enforcement officials, including the United States Secret Service.

With the assistance of the telemarketing victim, Nixon's office tape-recorded several phone calls during which Boyd requested money from his victim. Nixon charged that during phone calls in June, July and August, Boyd told his victim:

• He was a representative of the New York Attorney General's Office who was working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and had recovered $35,000 she had paid to fraudulent businesses;
• She had won a cash prize of significant value and was required to pay taxes and fees up to $200 to acquire the prize;
• He was a Federal Express employee who would help her send the money via Western Union. Boyd will serve his sentence in a Missouri prison consecutive to a federal prison sentence in New York on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Boyd is the fifth telemarketer to be sentenced to prison on criminal charges brought by Nixon. The Attorney General's Office has obtained convictions against three Californians and a Las Vegas man on charges related to fraudulent telemarketing calls made into Missouri.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818