Federal court rejects appeal by telemarketer

Greg Tuttle

Thursday, July 20, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

A Las Vegas man convicted of running one of the largest telemarketing scams in the nation will remain in prison following the rejection of his appeal by a panel of federal judges.

In a published opinion issued Wednesday, three judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco unanimously agreed to affirm John Ciccone's 1997 convictions on 71 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.

Ciccone was the owner of Feed America Inc., a Las Vegas company that solicited money from people across the country over the telephone. Ciccone was charged by federal prosecutors who said the company was based on a fraud in which people were promised prizes in return for a charitable donation.

The company made more than $2 million in 1994 and 1995, most of which went directly into Ciconne's bank account, according to federal prosecutors. Many of the estimated 1,000 victims believed the money they sent to the company would be channeled to charities to feed the homeless.

Ciccone was one of 138 Las Vegans indicted in late 1995 as part of a 14-state sweep of illegal telemarketers by federal authorities.