365个英语简短小故事-245.Man Gets 12 Years for Fraud

A federal judge sentenced Bruce Jones to 12 years in federal prison for fraud. Over a 10-year period, Jones had managed to swindle almost $10 million from thousands of gullible¹ people throughout the state.

He advertised his fantastic ideas on TV. "For some reason," Jones said, "TV seems to break the ice. Even though you are a total stranger to the viewer, once he sees you on TV in his home, he feels like he knows you. You enter his living room and become a trusted friend."

Jones had an imagination that wouldn’t quit. One time he showed viewers an "official government" earthquake report which “proved” that the western half of California would collapse² into the sea within three years. For $100, he said, Jones would insure your house and property for full value. Thousands of people who saw that TV ad sent him a hundred dollars each.

In another TV ad, Jones claimed that he had negotiated with the federal and state government for exclusive air rights. He told viewers that, for only $100, they could own the first 10 miles above all their property. You would be able to charge any commercial plane that flew over your property $100 per crossing. You would also be able to charge government rockets, satellites, space shuttles, and space stations $100 for each and every violation³ of your air rights.

Another time, Jones claimed to have invented a product that gets rid of calories. He showed the viewers a spray can of "NoCal." He said that by simply spraying NoCal on your food, a chemical interaction would cause all the calories in the food to simply evaporate within about 10 seconds. The NoCal was only $10 a can. As usual, Jones received thousands of checks in the mail.

The judge told Jones that he should be ashamed of himself. Jones responded that he was very ashamed of himself, and that when he got out of prison he hoped to become a TV consultant⁴ to help people avoid getting scammed. He told the judge that he was already developing an instructional CD that, for merely $100, would save people thousands of dollars in scams. The judge nodded, and then changed Jones’s sentence from 10 years to 12 years.

 

1 gullible   

adj.易受骗的；轻信的

参考例句：

• The swindlers had roped into a number of gullible persons.骗子们已使一些轻信的人上了当。
• The advertisement is aimed at gullible young women worried about their weight.这则广告专门针对担心自己肥胖而易受骗的年轻女士。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

4 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。