SAN FRANCISCO — A Bay Area man who used fake information and other tricks to get hired by six different companies has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud, records show.
Aaron Morris, of Los Gatos, was sentenced earlier this month by U.S. District Judge James Donato. He , last February. The sentence is three months more than prosecutors had asked for.
In an 11-page sentencing memo, federal prosecutors they detailed numerous schemes Morris was behind. Among them: presenting himself as an attorney, creating a fake email address to impersonate a Columbia Business School administrator and “confirm” Morris’ attendance, and running an investment scheme to get his wife’s family to invest $85,000 in a start up company, which he also defrauded.
“All of this occurred while Morris was on probation for a 2015 felony conviction for embezzling $350,000 from his employer’s health care program,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Leif Dautch wrote in the memo.
In a rebuttal sentencing brief, Morris’ attorney, David Callaway, chided prosecutors for bringing up alleged crimes that Morris had not been charged for, and argued that in sentencing Morris, Donato shouldn’t consider anything other than what he had admitted to in the plea agreement.
“This case is about Mr. Morris using his brother’s identity to prevent background checks from picking up his prior felony and exaggerating his background to obtain jobs he desired and was in fact qualified to perform,” Callaway wrote. “That is the case the government charged, no more and no less. They need to own their charging decision.”
Callaway later added, “Since his arrest, Mr. Morris has begun the path to rehabilitation and living a law-abiding life, as well as continuing to grow into his role as a devoted father and caregiver.”
Morris must also pay $10,000 restitution and serve three years of supervised release. He has been ordered to turn himself in to the Bureau of Prisons by Jan. 9, 2023.
Source: www.mercurynews.com