Oldham County Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison on Bank Fraud Charges

LOUISVILLE, KY—An Oldham County, Kentucky man was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay a $114,936.98 in restitution yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge John G. Heyburn, II for defrauding five banks located in Oldham County, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
James Distler, age 45, pleaded guilty to a five count federal grand jury indictment on September 20, 2013. The charges included three counts of bank fraud and two counts of wire fraud.
In court, Distler admitted to opening bank accounts, under false names, between August 2009 and November 2011, to negotiate and attempt to negotiate worthless checks totaling nearly $115,000.
According to the plea agreement, between August and December 2009, Distler opened a bank account in the name of Air Vegas at Bank of America in Oldham County, Kentucky, and then knowingly used the bank account to negotiate and attempt to negotiate worthless checks totaling $78,845. Between June and July 2010, Distler opened a bank account in the name of Express Jet at U.S. Bank in Oldham County and then knowingly used U.S. Bank’s check processing company, Elavon Inc., to negotiate and attempt to negotiate worthless checks totaling $40,778.51. During the course of the scheme he caused an interstate wire communication between Knoxville, Tennessee, and Oldham County, Kentucky. Then, between July and August 2010, Distler opened a bank account in the name of Express Jet at Capital One Bank in Oldham County and then knowingly used the bank account to negotiate and attempt to negotiate worthless checks totaling $18,302. Between July and August 2010, James Distler opened a bank account in the name of Express Jet at Old National Bank in Oldham County and then knowingly used the bank account to negotiate and attempt to negotiate worthless checks totaling $16,756. Lastly, between November 2010 and January 2011, Distler opened a bank account in the name of Ejet Solutions at PNC Bank in the name of Ejet Solutions and then used the account to negotiate payments processed by Erentpayment LLC to negotiate and attempt to negotiate worthless rent payments totaling $16,380. During the course of the scheme he caused an interstate wire communication between Denver, Colorado, and Oldham County, Kentucky.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bryan Calhoun and was investigate by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).