Owner and Supervisors of Idaho Company Sentenced in Federal Court for Fraud Convictions

November 21, 2019

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of South Dakota:

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that an Idaho business owner, two of his supervisors, and the company, convicted of Wire Fraud and Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, were sentenced on November 18, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol.

Christopher A. Hoshaw, age 45, of Meridian, Idaho; Calvin Pelichet, age 45, of Boise, Idaho; Kristin DeBoer, age 51, of Caldwell, Idaho; and the company, All Around Sports, LLC, all appeared before Judge Lawrence L. Piersol on November 18, 2019, for sentencing on each of their respective convictions for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Hoshaw appeared on behalf of All Around Sports, LLC, a Boise-based company.

Pelichet, the sales manager at AAS, received the most significant sentence of 24 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release following his incarceration. Hoshaw was sentenced to 12 months of home detention and 5 years of probation. DeBoer was sentenced to 4 months of home detention and 2 years of probation. All Around Sports, LLC, was sentenced to 3 years of probation. Hoshaw, Pelichet, and All Around Sports, LLC, were also ordered to jointly and severally pay restitution of $157,450 to two Alaskan Native entities. While the individual defendants were not fined, All Around Sports, LLC, was fined $42,000.

“These defendants devised a complicated criminal scheme to steal from the Oglala Sioux Tribe,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons. “The Guardians Project was implemented to detect this type of fraud and punish those who seek to commit it. We couldn’t be more pleased with the results.”

“All Around Sports and its executives expected to fatten their bottom lines by defrauding the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Instead they received richly deserved sentences,” said Curt L. Muller, Special Agent in Charge for the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We look forward to working with all our law enforcement partners – including on the U.S. Attorney’s Guardian Project to fight fraud and prevent criminals from victimizing Indian Country communities.”

According to documents filed with the Court, Christopher A. Hoshaw, Calvin Pelichet, and Kristin DeBoer devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. For the purpose of executing the scheme and artifice, Hoshaw, Pelichet, and DeBoer knowingly caused to be transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce the signals and sounds to effectuate the withdrawal of funds from a banking account belonging to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, at The First National Bank of Gordon in Gordon, Nebraska, to an account belonging to All Around Sports, L.L.C., at Idaho Central Credit Union in the State and District of Idaho.

As for All Around Sports, LLC, beginning at a time unknown but no later than on or about December 2015, and continuing through December 2016, All Around Sports, LLC, along with others, conspired to commit the offense of wire fraud in South Dakota and elsewhere. By and through company representatives, All Around Sports, LLC, willfully and unlawfully devised and intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and property from others by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. Those representatives knowingly participated, using the company as a conduit, by receiving money transfers from sources they knew were the victims of the fraudulent scheme. Those representatives also acted willfully for the purpose of enriching the company and themselves, knowing of the unlawful purpose of the scheme when they participated in it. The object of the conspiracy was to enrich AAS’ owner, managers, and employees by obtaining fraudulent funds.

These investigations were conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Jehangiri.

These cases were brought pursuant to the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Guardians Project, a federal law enforcement initiative to coordinate efforts between participating agencies, to promote citizen disclosure of public corruption, fraud, and embezzlement involving federal program funds, contracts, and grants, and to hold accountable those who are responsible for adversely affecting those living in South Dakota’s Indian country communities. The Guardians Project is another step of federal law enforcement’s on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination, and positive action on behalf of tribal communities.

Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the participating agencies include: Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Offices of Inspector General for the Departments of Interior, Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Agriculture, Transportation, Education, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development; Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Postal Inspector Service; U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General.

For additional information about The Guardians Project, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at (605) 330-4400. To report a suspected crime, please contact law enforcement at the federal agency’s locally listed telephone number.

These investigations were conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Jehangiri.