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Ex-Oldsmar business owner gets 3 years for mail fraud

Claiming to be a broker of campground memberships, he pocketed "fees."

By CARRIE WEIMAR
Published January 25, 2007

A former Oldsmar business owner was sentenced to three years in prison Tuesday on a charge of mail fraud relating to campground memberships.

David Cannon, 62, of Chicago, owned Tampa Bay Campground Brokers. According to federal court records, he contacted people interested in selling their campground memberships and told them he had a prospective buyer.

For an upfront fee, Cannon said, he would connect the seller with the buyer. He also offered to refund the fee if the transaction didn't close.

But in reality, there were no prospective buyers. Cannon would pocket the fee and never close any transactions, court records stated.

In all, he bilked about 425 victims out of a total of $81,250, authorities say. He pleaded guilty to one charge of mail fraud in August.

In addition to Cannon's prison term, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich also sentenced him to three years of supervised release.

Cannon, who also goes by the name David Cowsky, operated his telemarketing business at an office at 105 Fairfield St. in Oldsmar.

Indicted in 1997, Cannon was on the lam until 2005, when authorities found him in Chicago.

That, however, was not the first time Cannon had been in trouble, according to court documents.

Cannon's operation was a spinoff of another membership resale company. In 1992, Charles Angel pleaded guilty to fraud charges after a Postal Service investigation into his company, Gulf Coast Campground Resales in Indian Rocks Beach. Cannon had been a salesman at Gulf Coast, court records show.

In the most recent case, investigators say, the victims owned memberships in campground organizations including Coast to Coast, Outdoor World, Thousand Trails and American Adventures.

Those organizations either provide campground facilities for their members or are affiliated with campgrounds owned by someone else.

The costs of the memberships ranged from about $1,000 to $10,000, and members were required to pay yearly maintenance fees and membership fees, which could be as much as $400.

In most cases, the memberships cannot be canceled; they can only be sold.

In running his scam, investigators have said, Cannon targeted elderly people and those who lived out of state.

[Last modified January 24, 2007, 23:08:55]