MCCONNELSVILLE, Ohio — Morgan County Court of Common Pleas sent an Alaska man to prison for 8.5 years Monday.

Andrew J. Jensen, 31, of Anchorage, was ordered to pay restitution to his 15 victims in addition to the prison sentence.

“The primary target of this guy’s scheme was an elderly man with dementia, the epitome of vulnerability,” Ohio Attorney General David Yost said. “Instead of treating him like a human being, Jensen exploited this victim like a personal ATM. But justice has finally caught up to Jensen thanks to a strong partnership between law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels.”

Jensen was sentenced by visiting Judge Michael Ward Monday following Jensen’s plea of guilty in May.

Jensen pleaded guilty to 18 felony charges:

¯ Four counts of theft from a protected class, a first-degree felony, second-degree felony, third-degree felony and fourth-degree felony.

¯ One count of telecommunications fraud, a second-degree felony.

¯ One count of money laundering, a third-degree felony.

¯ One count of misuse of credit cards.

“Fifteen victims throughout the nation had their voices heard today,” Morgan County Prosecutor Mark Howdyshell said Monday. “By pooling resources, our office and the Attorney General’s office have held Jensen accountable for his crimes. We appreciate the support provided by the Ohio Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Unit in protecting elderly victims in Morgan County.”

Jensen pleaded to defrauding money, property and services valued at more than $750,000 from his victims. In Morgan County he stole cash and property totaling $238,695 from an elderly Morgan County man between July 2014 and March 2017.

That victim he removed from Ohio when family and other Morgan County residents grew suspicious, isolating the victim to Alaska, Kentucky, Nevada and Tennessee between January and March of last year.

Jensen was initially arraigned on 22 felony counts in July of 2017 and is incarcerated at the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail in Nelsonville.

“There were some of his victims who could not travel to appear before the court,” said Domonic Binkley, public information officer with Yost’s office. “There was only one victim in Morgan County [but] the victims outside Ohio were located in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alaska, Texas and Minnesota. The trial was scheduled for three weeks, but Jensen changed his plea to guilty on the first day. So it was a one-day trial.”

Victims included Lawrence Branton, James Cahoon, Kevin Doty, Frank Ervin, Gary Foster, Yesmid and Jairo Garzon, Thomas Gipson, Kenyatta Houston, Scott Janssen, Katherine Kings, David Norris, John Spelling, Howard and Ruth Stentz and Shaun Warburton.

Through Jensen’s scheme, they saw the loss of a Kawasaki motorcycle, a black Maserati, a red Dodge Ram Truck 3500, a 2015 Cadillac, 2016 Dodge Challenger, 2015 Doolittle trailer, furniture and assets, and several thousands of dollars in lines of credit from First Tennessee National Bank, First National Bank of McConnelsville, Busforsale.com, and Capital One Credit.

Jensen’s scheme included telling victims he had plenty of cash but bad credit and therefore used their personal credit to purchase vehicles, services and other items for his benefit.

Jensen then used the stolen money to con other victims into believing he was independently wealthy or a military veteran.

He never followed through with his promises to pay them back.

Binkley said Ohio is the first state to prosecute Jensen on these crimes and was not aware whether Tennessee, North Carolina, Minnesota, Alaska, Texas or Kentucky would follow.

Participating agencies in the investigation included:

¯ Athens County Prosecutor’s Office

¯ Dare County Sheriff’s Office (North Carolina)

¯ Morgan County Prosecutor’s Office

¯ Morgan County Sheriff’s Office

¯ National Insurance Crime Bureau

¯ Nelsonville Police Department

¯ Robertson County Sheriff’s Office (Tennessee)

¯ U.S. Marshals Service

¯ Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Organized Crime Investigations Commission

Janelle Patterson can be reached at jpatterson@mariettatimes.com