A Duluth man was sentenced Wednesday for his role in defrauding Staples Inc. of more than $1.4 million, federal officials said.
Layne Michael Gosnell, 46, previously pleaded guilty twice to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. The first time he entered his plea, he was intoxicated, officials said.
Gosnell and a co-conspirator devised a way to steal customer loyalty rewards and product rebates by creating more than 1,100 Staples rewards accounts. They used fake names, addresses and contact information, officials said.
John Douglas of Alpharetta created a computer script to query a Staples website thousands of times a day, seeking unclaimed customer loyalty rewards for purchases that neither he nor Gosnell made. They amassed more than $889,000 worth of rewards in small increments, often less than one dollar at a time.
Gosnell was sentenced to serve 21 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to media reports. He was also ordered to pay nearly $900,000 in restitution and forfeiture.
Douglas was sentenced in September to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $691,327 in restitution and $553,061 in forfeiture.
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