eBay Fraud Man Faces 20 years in Jail
Published September 14th, 2005
Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday that a San Leandro man pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud eBay users by selling valuable baseball cards without delivering them.William Gouviea, 40, pleaded guilty late Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court in San Jose to a single felony count of mail fraud.Gouviea admitted defrauding eBay customers of more than $34,000 between June 2002 and November 2003 by placing ads for rare and collectible baseball cards, including a 1951 Mickey Mantle card, on the online auction service, receiving payment but never sending the card to the purchaser.Gouviea is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 19 by U.S. District Court Jude James Ware. He faces a maximum possible punishment of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
