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FORT MYERS — A Cape Coral resident and former real estate broker was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison for defrauding a retired school teacher out of $561,000.
U.S. District Judge John Steele sentenced Aaron Eyerman, 38, on Sept. 9 for wire fraud, money laundering and false oath in relation to a bankruptcy proceeding, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment of $562,407.38, the proceeds of the charged criminal conduct. Eyerman was found guilty by a jury June 4, the release states.
Evidence presented at trial showed Eyerman met the victim, a retired schoolteacher from Pennsylvania, working in the real estate industry. In 2015, Eyerman convinced her to invest $300,000 in a real estate venture of flipping houses, authorities contended.
Instead of using her money for that purpose, the release says Eyerman gambled away a large portion of the money at casinos and, over a matter of seven weeks, spent the remainder on personal luxury goods, including a custom Porsche 911, a $12,700 Rolex watch and a $50,000 down payment on a waterfront residence in Cape Coral.
The release says Eyerman went back to her in August 2015 seeking more money for a second business opportunity, a purported new home construction company. The victim provided him with another $261,000, which authorities allege he immediately spent for personal use, including gambling most of it away at the Seminole Indian Casino in Immokalee. In total, Eyerman defrauded the victim of $561,000, court records show.
After the victim sued to get her money back, Eyerman declared bankruptcy to avoid his debt, and lied under oath about how he had spent the money, the release states.
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