Zgurski

BACKGROUND

I. Prosecution Evidence

Zgurski came to the attention of the San Francisco District Attorney because of his involvement in a scheme to defraud consumers who used the internet to purchase a boat from a person ostensibly called Joshua Eisenberg.

1 A. The Boat Fraud Scheme In May 2014, Michael C. wanted to buy a boat, looked on eBay, and was directed to another internet site where he found a boat for sale that interested him. Michael sent an email inquiry to Joshua Eisenberg, who was listed as the boat owner.1 The two exchanged emails and spoke on the phone. Eisenberg offered to deliver the boat to Michael, who lived in New York. He told Michael that he would set up an escrow account in California with a company called ITRADER Global. Michael was to deposit money into that account and then, once the boat was delivered, Michael would call the escrow company and the funds would be released to Eisenberg. They negotiated a sale price of $30,500. In June 2014, Michael instructed his bank to complete a wire transfer of funds to the account designated by Eisenberg. Eisenberg confirmed the transfer and sent Michael a certificate of title that appeared genuine. When Michael…