(WNY News Now) – BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 40-year-old Tonawanda man who admitted to a nationwide debt collection fraud scheme that victimized more than 500 people has been sentenced to five years of probation.
Nicholas Janes was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. after being convicted of mail fraud in connection with a scheme that caused victims to lose a combined $420,812.92.
According to federal prosecutors, authorities began investigating Janes in May 2023 after noticing numerous suspicious U.S. Postal Service Express Mail envelopes being sent to his Buffalo address. The envelopes came from people across the United States and were addressed to variations of Janes’ name or fictitious law firms…