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Florida man who masterminded $1.2 million children's charity fraud headed to prison, officials say

PENSACOLA, Fla. — A 47-year-old Florida man who organized a $1.2 million children’s charity fraud has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

After a two-week jury trial, Gary R. Tomey II, of Pace, was convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud in connection with his now-defunct children’s charity, officials said.

According to court documents, Tomey owned and operated Children and Family Services Inc., later called Children’s Charitable Services Inc., from 2008 to 2012.

During that time, employees of the company solicited charitable donations by phone, targeting seniors in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a media release.

The employees were instructed to tell donors that 100 percent of their donation would go to charity and that they were unpaid volunteers, the release said.

The employees were also instructed to say that the charity was located in, and would only distribute funds in, the donor’s home state, officials said.

However, the employees were paid a commission on top of an hourly wage and worked in a call center in Milton, court documents said.

Of the more than $1.2 million raised by the fraudulent charity, only 1.5 percent actually made its way to a charitable cause, investigators said.

“Fraudsters who exploit the charitable spirit of the American people, and especially those who prey upon the generosity of our seniors, can count on a thorough scrutiny and aggressive prosecution by this office,” said United States Attorney Christopher P. Canova.