Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 02A03-1505-CR-418 | January 29, 2016 Page 1 of 7

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), 

this Memorandum Decision shall not be 

regarded as precedent or cited before any 

court except for the purpose of establishing 

the defense of res judicata, collateral 

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Mark Olivero

Fort Wayne, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Gregory F. Zoeller

Attorney General of Indiana

Christina D. Pace

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Lyle M. Moser,

Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana,

Appellee-Plaintiff.

January 29, 2016

Court of Appeals Cause No.

02A03-1505-CR-418

Appeal from the Allen Superior 

Court

The Honorable John F. Surbeck, 

Jr., Judge

Trial Court Cause No.

02D06-1404-FC-119

Barnes, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 02A03-1505-CR-418 | January 29, 2016 Page 2 of 7

Case Summary

[1] Lyle Moser appeals his conviction and sentence for Class C felony fraud on a 

financial institution. We affirm.

Issues

[2] Moser raises two issues, which we restate as:

I. whether there is sufficient evidence to support 

his conviction; and 

II. whether his eight-year sentence is 

inappropriate.

Facts

[3] On the afternoon of Friday, December 13, 2013, Moser used an ATM to 

deposit two checks at Star Financial Bank (“Star”), a federally-insured 

institution. One check for $2,059.90 purported to be a cashier’s check and 

identified South American Climbing as the remitter. The other check was for 

$1,400.00 and was purported to have been issued by Community Caregivers in 

Ohio. When Moser made the deposit, his account balance was zero. 

[4] Immediately after Moser made the deposit, he began checking the balance and 

attempted to withdraw money from the account. The funds were posted to 

Moser’s account the next day, and he used his ATM card to make several cash 

withdrawals and purchases. By Sunday evening, there were insufficient funds 

in the account, and the ATM card was declined by a merchant. 
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[5] When Star attempted to process the checks the next week, both checks were 

dishonored by their respective banks. Michelle Halter, a security analyst and 

senior investigator for Star, began an investigation. She noticed typos on both 

checks and saw that one of them previously had been presented for payment 

and rejected. Halter contacted Moser regarding the checks. Moser explained to 

Halter that he received the checks as payment for car parts he sold on Craigslist. 

Moser denied having been overpaid and offered to bring in the envelopes the 

checks were mailed in but never did. 

[6] On April 29, 2014, the State charged Moser with Class C felony fraud on a 

financial institution. That same day, Moser sent a letter to the prosecutor’s 

office describing himself as a victim of a Craigslist scam, offering to repay the 

money, and indicating that he could provide emails and envelopes to support 

his claim. The letter indicated he had spoken with a detective and would meet 

with the detective when he returned to Indiana. Moser never contacted the 

detective, produced the emails, or repaid Star.

[7] A jury found Moser guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced him to eight 

years in the Department of Correction. Moser now appeals. 

Analysis

I. Sufficiency

[8] Moser argues there is insufficient evidence of his intent to defraud Star. When 

reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we neither reweigh the 

evidence nor assess the credibility of witnesses. Bailey v. State, 979 N.E.2d 133, 
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135 (Ind. 2012). We view the evidence—even if conflicting—and all reasonable 

inferences drawn from it in a light most favorable to the conviction and affirm if 

there is substantial evidence of probative value supporting each element of the 

crime from which a reasonable trier of fact could have found the defendant 

guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

[9] At the time Moser committed the offense, Indiana Code Section 35-43-5-8(1) 

defined Class C felony fraud on a financial institution as knowingly executing

or attempting to execute a scheme or artifice to defraud a state or federallychartered or federally-insured financial institution. “A person engages in 

conduct ‘knowingly’ if, when he engages in the conduct, he is aware of a high 

probability that he is doing so.” Ind. Code § 35-41-2-2(b). 

[10] Moser contends the State did not prove that he knowingly defrauded Star. He 

refers us to his letter to the prosecutor describing himself as a victim of a 

Craigslist scheme and to his testimony explaining the inconsistencies in his 

various versions of events. 

[11] The evidence most favorable to the verdict, however, established that Moser 

knowingly defrauded Star. For example, there were obvious typos on both 

checks including the misspelled “remmitter,” the lack of capitalization of 

Moser’s last name, and an extra period in an address line. Ex. 3. Also, when 

Moser attempted to cash one of the checks, it was declined, and he was 

instructed to take the check to his bank. Instead, he deposited the checks into 

an account with a zero balance at an ATM on a Friday afternoon while the 
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bank was open and then performed several balance inquires, withdrawals, and 

purchases, ultimately depleting the funds in two days, before the checks were 

processed by Star. 

[12] Further, Moser’s statements to Halter and the prosecutor were riddled with 

inconsistencies and were inconsistent with his trial testimony. Despite claiming 

to have emails and envelopes to support his story of being a victim of a

Craigslist scheme, he never produced the emails and waited until the trial to

present the envelopes that did not positively verify his story. At trial, Moser 

claimed that one person purchased the car and parts he had listed for sale on 

Craigslist and sent Moser three checks, one from Community Caregivers, one 

from South American Climbing, and one from Sears Optical, in advance of 

receiving the car and parts. Moser claimed he never cashed the third check and 

had the envelope at home. He also testified that the car and parts were picked 

up after he became aware the checks were bad, but he did not report the 

incident to the police. 

[13] Finally, Moser testified that his asking price for the car was $1,500.00, which he 

sold for $2,059.00, and that the asking price for the parts was $500.00, which he 

sold for $1,400.00. Moser agreed that the purchaser overpaid by roughly 

$1,500.00 and claimed that the purchaser instructed him to pay the two people 

who picked up the car and parts $500.00 each. This is inconsistent with 

Halter’s testimony that, when she spoke with Moser, he claimed there was no 

overpayment. 
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[14] From this evidence, the jury could conclude that Moser knowingly defrauded

Star. Moser’s arguments to the contrary are a request to reweigh the evidence, 

which we cannot do.

II. Sentence

[15] Moser argues that his eight-year sentence is inappropriate. Indiana Appellate 

Rule 7(B) permits us to revise a sentence authorized by statute if, after due 

consideration of the trial court’s decision, we find that the sentence is 

inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the 

offender. Although Appellate Rule 7(B) does not require us to be “extremely” 

deferential to a trial court’s sentencing decision, we still must give due 

consideration to that decision. Rutherford v. State, 866 N.E.2d 867, 873 (Ind. Ct. 

App. 2007). We also understand and recognize the unique perspective a trial 

court brings to its sentencing decisions. Id. “Additionally, a defendant bears 

the burden of persuading the appellate court that his or her sentence is 

inappropriate.” Id.

[16] The principal role of Appellate Rule 7(B) review “should be to attempt to

leaven the outliers, and identify some guiding principles for trial courts and 

those charged with improvement of the sentencing statutes, but not to achieve a 

perceived ‘correct’ result in each case.” Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219, 1225 

(Ind. 2008). We “should focus on the forest—the aggregate sentence—rather 

than the trees—consecutive or concurrent, number of counts, or length of the 

sentence on any individual count.” Id. Whether a sentence is inappropriate 

ultimately turns on the culpability of the defendant, the severity of the crime, 
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the damage done to others, and myriad other factors that come to light in a 

given case. Id. at 1224. When reviewing the appropriateness of a sentence 

under Appellate Rule 7(B), we may consider all aspects of the penal 

consequences imposed by the trial court in sentencing the defendant, including 

whether a portion of the sentence was suspended. Davidson v. State, 926 N.E.2d 

1023, 1025 (Ind. 2010). 

[17] Even if the nature of the offense is not particularly egregious, Moser did present 

three different versions of the crime, ultimately painting himself as a victim of a 

Craigslist scheme. Regarding his character, forty-year-old Moser has seventeen 

misdemeanor convictions and eight felony convictions. His felony convictions 

include burglary, receiving stolen property, receiving stolen auto parts, theft, 

and three counts of fraud. His misdemeanor convictions include multiple 

counts of check deception and criminal conversion. As the trial court aptly 

observed, Moser “has no respect for other people, or for the rules of society. He 

clearly is a thief . . . .” Sentencing Tr. p. 13. Moser has not shown that his 

sentence is inappropriate. 

Conclusion

[18] There is sufficient evidence to support Moser’s conviction and he has not 

established that his sentence is inappropriate. We affirm.

[19] Affirmed..

Robb, J., and Altice, J., concur.