More charges filed in fraud case
A Uniontown man who already faces charges related to identity theft in state and federal court for allegedly defrauding people on eBay was hit with another set of charges. This time, state police allege that Jason D. Joy, 39, used his ex-wife’s personal information to open a credit card account in her name in 2006.
Trooper Thomas B. Broadwater alleged that between July and September 2006, Joy used a credit card that he opened in the name of his ex-wife, Kerry Joy, 35, of Uniontown.
Police said that Jason Joy made numerous purchases with the card, and was charged with theft by deception, forgery and unlawful use of a computer before Magisterial District Judge Wendy Dennis.
Jason Joy has three other, similar pending criminal cases in Fayette County Common Pleas Court, where he allegedly opened credit card accounts in the names of his former father-in-law and sister-in-law.
Jason Joy, a former professor at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, also allegedly used the name of a student to open an eBay account.
Those offenses occurred between November 2003 and September 2006.
Recently, Jason Joy’s attorney asked Judge Ralph C. Warman to dismiss two of the cases because the statute of limitations expired on them. Warman has yet to rule in the matter.
In the Western District Court in Pittsburgh, Jason Joy was charged with “used existing and new accounts at eBay, Paypal and Yahoo! in various names,” including makemillions70, jumpyboy15401 and stringtheory1970 to sell items at online auctions.
He reportedly offered coins and other collectible items for sale, but prosecutors alleged that when people bought them, Jason Joy never sent them. Authorities said the he stole nearly $40,000.
Prosecutors said that 71 people were caught up in that alleged scheme between March 2003 and June 2006.
When the victims in those cases complained, prosecutors alleged Joy “sent false, lulling e-mails and letters to the buyers saying he had been the victim of identity theft by persons who committed the fraud.”
In the Middle District federal court, he was charged with 12 counts of mail fraud. He allegedly sent $12,128 in counterfeit checks from his former home in Mechanicsburg to people from whom he purchased coins and silver or gold bars in 2007.
He recently entered a no contest plea in that case. Such a plea is treated the same as guilty for the purposes of sentencing, but it means that Joy will not contest the charge.
His sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.