Former Clarksville resident sentenced in fraud case
A former Greene County resident was sentenced to serve 27 years in a federal prison for bilking people out of millions of dollars through dummy businesses.
U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley handed down the sentence, which included over $3 million in restitution, against Michael J. Pavlock, 59, in federal court in Charleston, W.Va., on Monday.
Pavlock, formerly of Clarksville, was convicted in December of 12 counts of wire fraud and three counts of making false entries on a bankruptcy document.
Prosecutors charged that Pavlock convinced people to invest in businesses that either didn’t exist, or weren’t successful, and used their money for his personal reasons like buying cars, a condo or funding his girlfriend’s cosmetic dentistry.
Among the businesses Pavlock owned was the now-defunct Masontown Telegraph newspaper.
In addition to the restitution, Keeley also ordered Pavlock to forfeit several vehicles she determined were bought with the proceeds.
Richard Powell II, 42, of Point Marion was convicted of one count of making a false statement on a bankruptcy document during the same trial as Pavlock. Earlier this year, Powell was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
In addition to handing down Pavlock’s sentence, Keeley also denied a motion for a new trial.
Pavlock’s attorney claimed that he was unfairly prejudiced when prosecutors argued he was a “liar” in closing remarks at his trial, and that evidence of a victim’s poor health was introduced.
Keeley found that arguments that Pavlock lied “were grounded in reasonable inferences that could be drawn from trial testimony and evidence in the record.”
She also found that the health of Edith Konchosky — from whom Pavlock scammed $2.4 million — did not impact the verdict. Konchosky did not appear at the trial because she has Alzheimer’s disease, Keeley wrote.
Pavlock scammed money from her between 2005 and 2009, the judge found.
When he is released from prison, Pavlock must serve three years of supervised release, Keeley ordered.