PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A former Oregon certified public accountant who stole about $4.5 million from his clients, including Olympic snowboarder Daniel Kass, to support his “playboy” lifestyle and marijuana business has been sentenced to over four years in prison.
Victims told a federal judge Thursday how they were duped by Nathan Wheeler’s personable manner only to learn he had bilked their life savings.
Prosecutors say he stole more than $900,000 from Kass and misappropriated the trust fund of two porn shop heirs. He also bought his fiancee an engagement ring using the investments of a retired law enforcement officer.
Wheeler, 43, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and attempted tax evasion last year. In court, he agreed with many of his victims, saying he cheated them to fund his lifestyle of “nightlife, booze, drugs and money.” But he said he has been in counseling, got remarried and is now focused on his family.
The investigation began when the Oregon Liquor Control Commission looked into Wheeler’s medical marijuana growing enterprise. It was much larger than the state’s medical marijuana program allowed, with cash deposits coming in from Washington and Idaho.