According to an indictment recently handed down in Federal Court in Rome, Georgia, a prisoner at Hays State Prison in Trion had been conducting a scam in which he sold more than a million dollars worth of construction equipment from behind bars.

Federal prosecutors said that Damon Thomas Young, while incarcerated at Hays, was able to convince – not one but two – heavy equipment companies into delivering $1.5 million in equipment to locations in Ranger, Georgia, and he then arranged to sell the construction equipment to unsuspecting buyers.

Prosecutors say Young pretended to be a “purchasing agent” for a company planning to open up a manufacturing business in the town of Ranger; he then e-mailed a credit application that included the names of three actual people and he obtained the credit needed to purchase the equipment.  He then made arrangements to sell that equipment to buyers who didn’t know it had been obtained illegally.

Records with the Georgia Department of Corrections show that Young is serving time for multiple offenses including Assault, Bad Checks and Arson.

(WZQZ Chattooga County Radio)