Man convicted of fraud given prison time
The Daily Inter Lake
A Seattle man who chartered a private jet to Mexico and then charged the bill to a Whitefish acquaintance's credit card was sentenced last week to 42 months in federal prison.
During a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mark G. Sams, 50, also was ordered to pay more than $61,000 in restitution and serve three years on supervised release after his incarceration.
Sams, who was convicted in September of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, introduced himself as Noel Haggard - the son of country music legend Merle Haggard - to a Whitefish man in April 2007, according to court documents.
Sams and his soon-to-be victim reportedly met through the man's mother, who was then dating Sams' roommate.
During an April 2007 dinner at the victim's house, Sams - still impersonating Noel Haggard - told the victim he had been a Learjet pilot with Clay Lacy Aviation for 20 years, but had to stop flying because he had developed Parkinson's disease.
He also told his new acquaintances that he needed to go to Mexico to check out an opportunity to manage a small resort near Puerto Vallarta and scheduled a trip for June 2007.
Sams said he would use a six-figure line of credit he had built up through previous business dealings with the company to arrange the flight to Mexico for himself, his roommate, the victim and the victim's mother.
But when the Whitefish man's credit card bill arrived at the end of the month, it included a $61,000 charge for the chartered jet.
Sams, who also impersonated Noel Haggard while making the jet reservations with Clay Lacy Aviation, provided the company with the victim's stolen credit card information to pay for the trip, according to court documents.
In July 2007, Sams was arrested outside the Valley Club lounge in Ronan for signing autographs and charging people to take pictures with him - again while he was impersonating Noel Haggard.
Police said Sams admitted to signing autographs and posing for pictures using Noel Haggard's name, but denied accepting money for them.