LYNCHBURG, Va. – A Florida man has pleaded guilty to his role in a two-year scheme to defraud a Lynchburg doctor out of nearly $500,000, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Tommie Lee Nelson, 65, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Recommended Videos
Court documents allege the scheme began around April 2020, when the doctor was trying to buy a commercial building in Danville in partnership with an agricultural cooperative.
Officials say Nelson posed as a lucrative businessman and real estate lender who could help with buying the building. Nelson convinced the doctor to wire several payments from July 2020 into 2021 that totaled almost $500,000, according to court documents. Those payments did not go toward the building purchase, and Nelson used the funds at casinos and for other personal expenses.
By 2021, the purchase agreement had fallen through and Nelson stopped responding to the doctor’s calls.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.