Youngstown man charged in $30K auction fraud case to enter diversion program

A Youngstown man charged with wire fraud for allegedly defrauding an online auction site out of nearly $30,000 will participate in a pretrial diversion program, instead of undergoing further prosecution.

Paul Jackson, who was charged with two counts of wire fraud, voluntarily entered into a diversion agreement with the government according to court records.

A diversion program, also known as pretrial diversion, is an alternative to traditional criminal prosecution. It allows certain defendants to avoid a criminal trial and potential conviction by fulfilling specific conditions set by the court and prosecutors. These conditions can include things like community service, restitution, counseling, and maintaining a clean criminal record for a specified period. Court documents do not disclose the terms of Jackson’s diversion program.

A joint motion to defer prosecution was filed on April 21 by the U.S. Attorney's Office and Jackson's attorney. Deferral means that the prosecution of the criminal charges is put on hold for a set amount of time, typically while the defendant participates in the diversion program.

According to the motion, Jackson has been approved for the Pretrial Diversion program by the U.S. Pretrial Services Department and has signed an agreement outlining the conditions. Upon successful completion of the 12-month diversion program, the two wire fraud charges against Jackson will be dismissed.

U.S. District Court Judge J. Philip Calabrese officially allowed the deferral of prosecution on April 28, effectively closing the two counts of wire fraud against Jackson for the duration of the program.

According to the original Bill of Information, federal prosecutors allege that between November 2017 and August 2021, Jackson defrauded an e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, only identified as "Online Auction Site 1."

Prosecutors outlined two alleged methods Jackson used. In one, he would call customer service, falsely claiming to be the seller, and request a price reduction on items he then purchased, resulting in approximately $22,164 in losses for the auction site. In the second, after purchasing items, he would call again, falsely claiming to be the seller attempting to process a refund, allowing him to receive the money while keeping the item, resulting in approximately $7,758 in losses.

A Bill of Information is a formal accusation filed by prosecutors, often indicating that the defendant intends to plead guilty, though in this case, Jackson initially entered a not guilty plea before agreeing to the diversion program.