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Belfast con man sentenced to three years in US prison for check forgery

Montana Court hands down tough sentence after Irishman writes $40,000 worth of bad cheques

HILDA HIGGINS,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Thursday, May 3, 2012, 8:42 AM

Updated Thursday, May 3, 2012, 8:42 AM

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Kevin Barry McAuley

Photo by Missoulian.com

An Irish immigrant charged with writing $40,000 in bad checks, has been sentenced to three years in prison by a Montana Court.

Kevin Barry McAuley (46), an undocumented Irish immigrant from Belfast, was branded a “menace to society” by a judge who sentenced him to 10 years in prison, with seven suspended.

Due to the fact that McAuley is a federal detainee, he will go directly to Montana State Prison where he must serve, at minimum, one fourth of his sentence, after which he will likely be deported back to Ireland.

The Irishman told people he was an ex-U.S. Army Ranger millionaire who had lost his wife in a Christmas Day car crash. It is said that with such lies he managed to scam food, drink, housing, a boat, and gas from the locals, Montana’s Helenair.com reports. According to court documents McAuley used up to five different identities to commit the crimes.

Judge Dorothy McCarter handed down the sentence on April 25 and said she had “no confidence” in the Irishman’s rehabilitation.

During the trial, Daniel Mohn testified that the Irishman had borrowed $8,000 from him. He said McAuley was nothing but a con artist and that if he was released he would just con more people.

“I gave him all my savings,” Mohn testified. “The guy is just a professional con artist. He’s the scum of the Earth as far as I am concerned. If you don’t send him to prison, send him to my house. I’ll fix him.”

The Belfast man had previously been deported from the U.S. but managed to return to the country, arriving in Florida by boat. The Irishman had several previous convictions relating to an incident in Wisconsin where he helped run an Irish bar near Milwaukee.