Custom woodworker David Conrad, 42, of Bristol, Vermont, was sentenced on Jan. 30, 2024, to a 5-year term of probation, following his guilty plea to conducting a wire fraud scheme between approximately January of 2022 and February 28, 2023. 

United States District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered Conrad to pay $58,430.52 in restitution to 43 victims, and to forfeit $58,430.52 of fraudulently obtained proceeds to the United States.

According to court records, Conrad operated a custom woodworking business under the names “Old Camp Woodworking” and “Vermont Custom Designs.” Conrad was the sole employee of the business, which he ran out of the two-car garage attached to his residence in Bristol, Vermont. 

Conrad advertised his businesses on Facebook, and had stand-alone websites that allowed customers to place orders for custom wood items, such as dining tables, dressers, bedroom sets, desks, and other items. Parts of these websites were plagiarized from other woodworking websites, and some of the photographs on the websites were not original photographs of custom pieces crafted by Conrad, but rather copies of photographs from elsewhere on the internet. Conrad’s websites displayed strict cancelation and refund policies, listing a 25% processing fee for orders canceled within 24 hours; a 75% processing fee for orders canceled within 30 days; and no refunds for orders canceled after 30 days.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt, between January 2022 and February 2023, Conrad accepted approximately $165,500 through various payment methods for over 100 different items ordered by customers in Vermont, New York, and New Hampshire. 

As part of the scheme to defraud, Conrad accepted payment for items he knew he could not complete within the 12-to-16-week timeframe he quoted customers. Conrad made numerous false statements to customers regarding the status of their orders and regarding why orders had not been completed (including false claims of having had a heart attack and cutting off a portion of his finger). Conrad used his strict refund policy as a reason to retain funds from customers, despite not having begun work on their orders. Conrad used funds obtained from customers to pay for his and his family’s expenses, while knowing that he would be unable to complete the custom-made wood item ordered by the customer.