Illinois man gets 2-year prison term for defrauding elderly
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - A central Illinois man has been sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding an elderly man of his life savings.
A federal judge handed down the sentence Wednesday for 42-year-old Deryl Wright of Pekin. The judge also ordered Wright to pay more than $100,000 in restitution.
Wright pleaded guilty last year to three felony counts of wire fraud.
Prosecutors say that between 2015 and 2017 Wright told the elderly man he needed to borrow money in order to receive an inheritance check from his father's death. They say he told the victim he would repay him from his inheritance money.
Authorities say there was no inheritance, and that Wright used the money for his personal benefit.
He was charged as part of a nationwide elder abuse sweep.