Opinion ID: 170197
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Post-Plea Conduct

Text: While Akers was awaiting sentencing, he initiated yet another fraudulent scheme. This time, he preyed on Tony Casanova, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. Akers and Casanova became pen pals through Casanova’s church. Casanova opened a bank account for Akers and applied for a credit card for him. Akers also sent Casanova his telephone bills, promising to reimburse him. At Akers’s direction, Casanova responded to a newspaper advertisement seeking investors for a casino boat. The person who placed the advertisement referred Akers to Nick Voulgaris. Akers convinced Voulgaris he was wrongly convicted and was wealthy. Although the casino deal fell through, Akers succeeded in recruiting Voulgaris to help him start a business. At Akers’s direction, Voulgaris created various checks totaling over $1 million and expended numerous hours on starting the business. Voulgaris also spent over $8,000 of his own money. In the end, Casanova’s son contacted law enforcement personnel, who pulled the plug on Akers’s scam. This did not stop Akers, however. He proceeded to dupe Cheryl -5- Navarrette, a former cellmate’s daughter. Based on Akers’s promise of employment and financial security, Navarrette purchased check-writing software and her husband quit his job. Fortunately, Navarrette could not get the software to work and no fraudulent checks were produced. However, Navarrette and her family suffered financially.