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Politics : Why is Gore Trying to Steal the Presidency? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ben Wa who wrote (655)	11/16/2000 12:45:13 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3887

Carol Roberts' Brother Convicted in 1997 Source: Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel Published: June 11, 1997 Author: Staff and Wire Reports Posted on 11/16/2000 09:25:59 PST THREE CONVICTED IN PIZZA SCHEME A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale has convicted the final three defendants in a $ 31 million telemarketing scam in which customers were lied to about the earning potential of pizza vending machines. Vincent Leonardo, 63, of Delray Beach; Gary Cooperman, 48, of Miami, and Sandy Klein, 55, of West Palm Beach, each were convicted on Monday of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the Justice Department said. U.S. District Court Judge William J. Zloch set sentencing for Aug. 22. In the scheme, telemarketers in the Boca Raton-based office called customers in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Arizona and New York to try to sell them machines, called the Pizza King, the Pizza Quick or the KT Pizza machine. Sales scripts included false, deceitful and misleading information, prosecutors said. Earlier this year, company owner Marvin Wolf, 64, of Boca Raton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges; he faces up to 20 years in prison and $ 750,000 in fines. Wolf's wife, Rochelle, 56, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy; she faces a maximum five-year term and a $ 250,000 fine. Leonardo and Klein face a maximum five years imprisonment and a $ 250,000 fine. Cooper faces a 10-year prison term and a $ 250,000 fine. Klein is a former Port of Palm Beach commissioner and the brother of Palm Beach County Commissioner Carol Roberts. Leonardo wrote the scripts, trained telemarketers, recruited people to give phony references about the company and accepted payments from customers. Once a customer received a defective machine, or failed to receive one, the customer would be referred to customer service, which would give false excuses for the nondelivery. Cooperman was in charge of the ''reload'' program, trying to persuade customers to make additional purchases. Klein was in charge of the ''heat'' or ''customer-service department,'' which coordinated responses to customer complaints and gave false excuses for nondelivery of the machines, prosecutors said.