Wednesday, February 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Scammers phoned local
residents from prison
Scammers impersonating
Deschutes County sheriff’s
deputies called local residents
— including some in Sisters
— from a prison in Georgia.
Last week, U.S. Attorney
Beth Drake reported that
Jay Byron Wright, 42, of
the Calhoun State Prison in
Morgan, Georgia, pled guilty
to conspiracy to commit wire
fraud. Judge Mary Geiger
Lewis accepted the plea and
will sentence at a later date.
Evidence presented at
the hearing established that
Wright and other prison-
ers called citizens of Oregon
using a cell phone smuggled
into their prison, told the
Oregonians they were in con-
tempt of court for not showing
up for jury duty, and that they
owed the court money. The
Oregonians could pay this
money by obtaining Money
Pak Green Dot cards for the
specified value and providing
the numbers on the cards to
the callers. The numbers gave
the callers access to the value
on the card.
At least three people in
Deschutes County fell for this
scam, and they transferred val-
ues slightly less than $1,000 to
cards used by various co-con-
spirators in South Carolina.
The maximum penalty
faced by Wright is impris-
onment for 20 years, with a
potential fine up to $250,000.
The Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office investigated
the case, along with authori-
ties in South Carolina.
The Sheriff’s Office wants
the public to know they should
never send someone money
without verifying the informa-
tion they are being provided
first. It is not common prac-
tice for the Deschutes County
Sheriff’s Office to advise a
citizen they have a warrant
over the phone. In most cases
a citizen with a warrant will
be contacted in person, and
the Deputy will have proper
credentials when serving the
warrant.
Sheriff Shane Nelson said,
“I am so proud of Sgt. Vander
Kamp and everyone else who
worked on this case. These
types of cases can be time-
intensive and extremely dif-
ficult to investigate. Scams
come in many different forms,
and being able to follow the
leads and get this indictment
is outstanding.”
PHOTO PROVIDED
Outlaws Cheer with their state trophy: Savannah Porsche, AriAnne Griffy, BethAnne Yount, Abbey Busick, Errin
Hongel, Shelby McCaulley, Rachelle Dale, Maddie Busick; front kneeling: Roy Gannon; not pictured: Hana Schultz.
Cheerleaders heading to Las Vegas
Sisters High School’s
Cheer Squad is heading to
Las Vegas for national com-
petitions at the end of the
month.
The Nationals berth caps
a fantastic year for the squad,
where they presented their
routines in numerous com-
petitive events.
They attended the South
Albany Rumble and finished
fourth. They then went to the
Sheldon invitational where
they received a second-place
trophy, beating out top-
ranked Henley. After that
they went to the Tualatin Last
Chance where they trophied
again, placing third.
The strong season earned
their way to state competition
where they placed fourth. At
the State Competition Henley
placed first; Newport second;
Cottage Grove third; Sisters
fourth; and Sweet Home fifth.
The girls earned a spot at
Nationals for the first time in
Sisters Cheer history. They
will be heading to Nationals
in Las Vegas for the com-
petition, which takes place
February 23 and 24.
They will do two perfor-
mances and hope to bring
home another trophy.
The squad is coached by
Gabrielle Griffy.