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Press Release

Chittenden County Man Sentenced To Three Years Of Supervised Release For Fraud

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Vermont

            The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that, on March 30, 2015, Jeffrey Devoid, 53, of Winooski, Vermont, was sentenced to three additional years of federal supervised release after Devoid admitted that he had violated the conditions of his federal supervised release by committing fraud.  U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III, sitting in Burlington, also ordered that Devoid pay his victims restitution in the amount of $13,600 and perform 120 hours of community service. 
           
            According to court records, in 2003 Devoid pled guilty to failure to pay child support–a federal misdemeanor–in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.  For that offense, he was sentenced to 5 years of probation.  In 2007, after he moved from California to Vermont, responsibility for supervising Devoid was transferred to the U.S. Probation Office in the District of Vermont. 

            On August 28, 2008, a federal grand jury in Vermont returned an indictment charging Devoid with multiple counts of wire fraud.  Devoid pled guilty and on November 2, 2009, Judge Sessions sentenced Devoid to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of federal supervised release.  In that case, Devoid defrauded a number of New England printing companies where he had been employed as a salesman.  Judge Sessions ordered him to pay his victims $207,838 in restitution.  Judge Sessions also ordered that Devoid pay the remaining $53,113 he owed in unpaid child support.

            According to court records, while serving the three-year term of supervised release imposed for his 2009 wire fraud conviction, Devoid continued to engage in fraudulent activity in Vermont.   Beginning in approximately December of 2011, Devoid would meet women via internet dating websites, court them romantically, and falsely claim that he was a wealthy businessman who had sold a successful printing company in California.  On the basis of this false information, Devoid induced his victims to lend him money and then failed to pay them back.

            As Devoid admitted, this fraudulent conduct violated the terms of his federal supervised release, which prohibited him from violating federal, state and local law.

            Acting United States Attorney Cowles commended the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on this matter.   The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Doherty, Jr.  Devoid is represented by William R. Norful of the Norful Law Office in Winooski, Vermont. 

Updated June 22, 2015