Mid-Michigan resident sentenced for role in $500K+ fraud scheme
A 60-year-old mid-Michigan resident has been sentenced to 1 year of probation for their role in an identity theft and unclaimed property fraud scheme that totaled more than $500,000, the state's Department of Attorney General said Friday.
An Eaton County Circuit Court judge handed down the sentence to Dwayne Johnson of St. Louis in Gratiot County, Michigan. Johnson pleaded guilty last November to one count each of attempted false pretenses over $100,000, counterfeiting/forging/using a state identification card to commit a felony and identity theft, according to online court records.
State officials said Averill Dintaman and Daniel Nolan, both of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, conspired in 2022 to steal the identity of a Michigan man and forged a power-of-attorney document to get an unclaimed property check in the victim's name for $579,551. Dintaman and Nolan then recruited Johnson to pose as the victim in person at the state's Department of Treasury's Unclaimed Property Office to get a second copy of the check.
All three were charged in May 2025, according to state officials.
Court records said Dintaman, 47, pleaded guilty last October to one count each of conspiracy to commit false pretenses over $100,000, uttering and publishing, forgery and using a computer to commit a crime. Dintaman was sentenced in December 2025 to 3 to 20 years in prison.
Nolan, 51, was given the same sentence as Dintaman by a judge in January, according to court records. Nolan pleaded guilty last November to one count each of conspiracy to commit false pretenses over $100,000, forgery and using a computer to commit a crime.