Miramar man gets over 3 years in prison as part of $500,000 scheme, feds say
After pleading guilty to wire fraud charges totaling nearly $500,000 in February, a Miramar resident has been sentenced to three years and five months in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Virginia.
The FBI investigated the case, which involved Tommie Lee Nelson, 65, presenting himself as a lender to a doctor in Lynchburg, Virginia, who was seeking to purchase a building in that state, the attorney’s office said in a June 11 news release.
The victim wired several payments to Nelson starting in 2020. By 2021, Nelson stopped returning the victim’s calls.
In that time, Nelson did not make “good faith” attempts to purchase the building, but kept up a false impression by travelling to look at the building and giving false excuses for delays, according to the indictment.
On Feb. 23, Nelson pleaded guilty to wire fraud for scamming that doctor out of almost $500,000. At the time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Nelson could face up to 20 years in prison.
“Despite Nelson’s representations, these payments did not go toward the building purchase. Instead, Nelson spent the victim’s money at casinos and for his personal benefit,” officials wrote in the news release.
He also assured the victim, the indictment says, that her money would be held in escrow when he had already spent it.
Nelson was arrested in 2025 in Florida and was prosecuted in federal court in Lynchburg.
This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Miramar man gets over 3 years in prison as part of $500,000 scheme, feds say."
