Bay Area Man Sentenced to 3 Years in SoCal for Defrauding Coachella, Stagecoach Patrons

A 41-year-old San Francisco man was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for using short-term rental websites to steal more than $17,000 -- much of it from out-of-town concert-goers seeking lodging for the 2014 and 2015 Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals.

Jian Gary Huang pleaded guilty Sept. 3 to two counts of grand theft over $400 and admitted a sentence-enhancing allegation of committing fraud, according to court records. He will receive credit for about one year and three months of time-served, roughly double the 230 days he actually spent in custody.

Huang had originally been charged with 58 felonies and two misdemeanors, including grand theft, theft by forgery, identity theft and burglary. The remaining charges were dropped under the plea deal.

He has been held since his arrest on Feb. 6 at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

In a court declaration, sheriff’s Investigator Kenneth Willow alleged there were at least 11 reports of rental frauds in La Quinta linked to Huang, from June 13, 2013, to Jan. 9 of this year.

Huang falsely listed real estate for rent, then collected deposits and rent from victims on properties he didn’t actually own or manage, according to the declaration.

“Huang is unemployed and his only source of income appears to be through fraudulent activity,” Willow wrote.

He added: “Huang has prior law enforcement contacts for committing similar frauds.”

At the time of the declaration, the probe had found more than $17,000 in losses.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock