No Prison Time For WI Man In Scheme To Defraud Amazon

MADISON, WI — A 27-year-old Wisconsin man was sentenced on Tuesday to five years of probation after admitting to his role in a scheme to defraud Amazon.

Christian Wink, of La Valle, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and filing a false tax return back in June.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge James D. Peterson noted that the scope and scale of Wink’s criminal conduct normally would warrant a prison sentence. However, Peterson considered Wink's long history of mental illness, including during the time period he committed the fraud against Amazon.

The judge also noted that Wink turned his life around once he committed to mental health treatment in 2021 and that a sentence of five years of probation would allow Wink to continue effectively managing his mental health needs.

According to prosecutors, between betwen 2017 and 2020, Wink ordered expensive items through Amazon, such as ethernet switches and Wi-Fi routers, and then initiated the return process.

Wink would return materially different items that were cheaper or broken, such as cell phone charging cables, authorities said.

Wink then received a refund for the amount of the original purchases while keeping the ordered items, according to investigators.

During the course of this scheme, Wink engaged in more than 3,485 fraudulent transactions causing losses to Amazon of approximately $372,359, authorities said.

Wink admitted that he failed to report the income he generated from the fraudulent return scheme on his personal 2020 tax return, according to prosecutors.

The charges against Wink were a result of an investigation conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation with the assistance of Amazon.