North Hollywood Man Sentenced to 64 Months Behind Bars for Wire Fraud

A North Hollywood man was sentenced today to 64 months behind bars for submitting a false loan application, obtaining a credit card in somebody else's name and running up charges on the account.

Jeff Sean Riley's penalty was increased because he submitted phony claims against the Internal Revenue Service while awaiting sentencing, officials said.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer ordered Riley to pay more than $720,000 in restitution to the IRS.

In his 2008 plea agreement to one count of wire fraud, Riley acknowledged submitting a false loan application to the Navy Federal Credit Union, a Virginia-based financial institution, which falsely overstated his income.

As proof of income, Riley submitted a false tax return claiming he earned more than $107,000 annually, when he actually earned about $20,000 per year, according to the IRS.

Riley used the fraudulently obtained funds issued by the NFCU to make payments of about $54,000 on the purchase of a 2008 Audi A6.

In June 2010, prior to his sentencing in the wire fraud case, Riley was charged with fraudulently obtaining a credit card in the name of another person and using that credit card to make unauthorized purchases.