The travel agent who pretended to organize a preseason trip to the Bahamas for the George Mason University men’s basketball team will spend the next 13 months behind bars.
Maurice Eugene Smith, 44, was sentenced today (Thursday) to one year and one month in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud back in April, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.
Smith, who is based in Atlanta, operated Eugene Toriko LLC, a travel agency that had been contracted to plan and book the team’s five-day trip last August.
The George Mason University Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Mason through private fundraising, ultimately paid more than $160,000 to The VII Group, a sports events marketing firm, who then remitted the money to Smith’s company.
But Smith, who was tasked with booking airfare, lodging, excursions, games and more, never actually paid to secure the bookings, according to court documents.
“The basketball team’s players, coaches, staff, and supporters who believed they had reservations for the trip to the Bahamas did not learn that reservations were not made for them until hours before the scheduled departure,” an affidavit said.
Instead, Smith used a portion of the funds for his “apparent personal gain,” including at least $34,000 for personal travel and another $12,000 in ATM withdrawals.
The remainder of the money was used to refund other parties who had previously gotten involved in Smith’s scheme, which resulted in cumulative losses of more than $220,000, according to court documents.
“For example, the defendant used money received from GMU/GMUF for the cashier’s check paid to Reinhardt [University], to refund them for the baseball team’s trip to Shreveport,” federal prosecutors said in a statement of facts. “The defendant used this money for a cashier’s check to B.L., to refund B.L. and his wife for their trip to Saint Lucia.”
As of December, the GMU Foundation had not been reimbursed for their losses. According to a plea agreement, however, Smith agreed to pay restitution to GMU and eight other creditors.
Photo via George Mason Athletics
