Florida men sent to federal prison for 'grandparent scam' that netted $384,000

Two Tampa, Florida, men were sentenced in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on Tuesday for scamming elderly victims out of nearly $384,000 in cities across northern Ohio, including Lorain. John Tyler Pla, 25, was sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison, and Johnny Lee Palmer, 26, was sentenced to two years and nine months in federal prison by District Judge Pamela Barker. Both Pla and Palmer also were ordered to pay $383,932 in restitution to their victims, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio. The men pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in March after being charged with federal crimes in November 2020. According to court records, from July 20 to Aug. 28, 2020, Pla and Palmer pulled off a so-called "grandparent scam," targeting elderly victims in Northeast Ohio cities, including Lorain, Westlake, Brecksville, Parma, Gates Mills, Mansfield, Fairview Park and Mentor. The scammers would call elderly victims pretending to be a relative, or an attorney for that relative, and claim the family member had been arrested and needed money for bail. One of the scammers then would arrange with the victim to collect the money through a "courier." Pla or Palmer would travel to the victim's residence and collect the money in person, sometimes traveling in a rented U-Haul. The investigation was conducted by the FBI's Cleveland Division and the Westlake Police Department.