Erie County District Attorney Michael K. Keane announces that Christian D. Johnson, 28, of Buffalo, was sentenced on Friday morning before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller. He received an indeterminate sentence of 3 to 9 years in prison.
Between April 2019 and November 2020, the defendant fraudulently obtained $52,340 in cash from various banks. The defendant committed the crime by depositing forged checks into bank accounts that he created for fictitious businesses then withdrew the money before the checks were returned. The defendant also fraudulently obtained $20,000 from an insurance company after he was involved in a car accident in March 2020. The defendant claimed that he was employed by one of his phony businesses and lost wages as a result of the crash.
On March 20, 2023, Johnson pleaded guilty to the highest counts in the indictment:
- One count of Insurance Fraud in the Third Degree (Class D felony)
- One count of Identity Theft in the First Degree (Class D felony)
- Three counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (Class D felonies)
- Four counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (Class D felonies)
- One count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (Class E felony)
As a condition of the plea, Johnson signed Confessions of Judgment to pay full restitution of $72,340. He has since paid $43,000 to the insurance company and banking institutions. During the sentencing proceeding, Judge Boller ordered that he pay back the remaining repayment balance of $29,340.
DA Keane commends Detective Daniel Brinkerhoff of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office for his work on this investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Chief Gary M. Ertel of the Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau.