A former ASU student is currently serving 30 days in jail for running a computer auction scam from his Cholla apartment in September 2000.
Investigators believe that 22-year-old Bryan Sharbono, who graduated from ASU in August with a Bachelor of Arts in finance, fraudulently sold as many as 500 nonexistent computers.
He operated by creating fake eBay accounts, used to raise the price of his (nonexistent) items if the bids received on his legitimate account were too low, according to the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
When buyers complained to him that they were not receiving the merchandise, he would sometimes send refunds or partial refunds.
Sharbono would also use the fictitious accounts to give himself positive feedback to make him appear trustworthy to buyers.
The Montana native was sentenced with 30 days in Maricopa County Jail's Tent City, five years of probation, $9,500 in restitution to the victims, $25,000 into the Arizona's anti-racketeering fund and 500 hours of community service.
The county's probation department will also monitor his computer usage.
Sharbono was penalized by eBay for unrelated incidents before creating the scam he was recently charged with.
His attorney, John Gaertner, declined comment.
Sharbono's mother Kathy Sharbono said he "was on pins and needles" throughout the case, which took approximately two years.
"He's a good kid, and he's never been in trouble before this," she said. "What he did was wrong, and he admitted that."
Sharbono had a legitimate computer business in Montana and didn't become involved in the auction scheme until moving to Arizona, according to Kathy Sharbono.
He is currently halfway through his sentence in Joe Arpaio's Tent City. His mother said he has plans to relax in his hometown and figure out what to do from there once he is released in two weeks.
Reach the reporter at christina.viloria@asu.edu.
