N.Y. man pleads guilty to defrauding Kalispell bank

MISSOULA (AP) — A New York state man has pleaded guilty to defrauding and attempting to defraud Glacier Bank.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 62-year-old Guy Joseph Manzo of North Babylon, N.Y., pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula.

Charging documents say Manzo opened three accounts at Glacier Bank in Kalispell using the bank’s online services in early 2011 and tried to fund one with three bad checks totaling $9,252. The bank eventually closed the account.

Prosecutors say he then wrote $175,000 in checks from the closed account in an attempt to pay credit card bills. Manzo told a Secret Service agent that as long as the creditors had the appearance of being paid, his credit score would stay in the low 700s.

He told the agent that the transfers were to help his girlfriend, who was battling cancer, and that he is on disability for a back injury that he sustained while employed as a plumber. He said he had no other source of income.

Prosecutors said Manzo also illegally transferred more than $16,000 from another customer’s account and tried to make another $45,000 in illegal transfers.

He now faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced Jan. 8.