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On Monday, Dec. 11, Circuit Court Judge Margaret Schweitzer sentenced 26-year-old Ravinklejeet Mathon, of Rockville, to 10 years in prison, suspending all but five years, followed by five years of probation, well above the suggested guidelines for sentencing.
Mathon was arrested in May after picking up the gold bars under the guise of being a courier.
The elderly victim, manipulated into believing his identity was stolen and his savings were at risk, was instructed to buy the gold bars and surrender them to someone posing as a federal agent.
The suspect claimed the gold would be “kept safe in a federal vault” until the man could be issued a new Social Security number.
Mathon pleaded guilty in October to:
- Attempted theft over $100,000;
- Conspiracy to commit theft over $100,000.
Mathon is the first person in Montgomery County to be convicted and sentenced in the county for his role in a "Gold Bar Scam," that duped a 94-year-old Silver Spring man out of three gold bars valued at nearly $230,000.
"The gold bar scams are unique due to the level of international, organized crime involved," McCarthy added. "In addition, there was special vulnerability in this case due to the victim’s advanced age of 94."
Although Maryland's sentencing guidelines for non-violent, white-collar crimes suggested a sentence of probation to one year, prosecutors pushed for a harsher punishment.
“The state of Maryland has suggested sentencing guidelines to ensure that similarly situated defendants receive similar punishment for crimes they have committed," Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy stated.
"The guidelines for non-violent, white-collar crime are typically low and were not designed to deal with crimes of this magnitude or complexity."
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