TYLER, Texas – A 43-year-old Bullard, Texas man has been sentenced for federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Eual Brent Hallford pleaded guilty on Jan. 7, 2010, to wire fraud and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison on Jan. 25, 2012, by U.S. District Judge Leonard E. Davis.  Hallford was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $106,000.00.

                According to information presented in court, Hallford was in business of buying and selling sports memorabilia over the Internet.  As part of the business, Hallford maintained various merchant accounts for the purpose of processing credit card payments for merchandise sold.  On Sep. 26, 2006, Hallford applied for a credit card merchant account with PowerPay, a company located in Maine.  In attempting to obtain the credit card merchant account to process his credit card sales, Hallford falsified bank statements and faxed them to the credit card processor.   The fraudulent activity resulted in a loss of at least $120,000. 
This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Jackson.

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