Court upholds prison term in 850-euro firewood scam

Panevėžys Regional Court has rejected Eimantas Kaleckas’s appeal, upholding his one-year prison sentence for defrauding a woman of nearly 850 euros in a firewood scam, LRT reported.

The court said on Monday that a non-custodial penalty or a suspended sentence would not meet the aims of justice, citing Kaleckas’s previous convictions and negative character assessment.

The woman had found an online social media advertisement for firewood and agreed to buy it and have it delivered. After she transferred the requested payment, the firewood did not arrive. Kaleckas later demanded an additional fee, falsely claiming it was for the State Tax Inspectorate to cancel an invoice and return her money.

Kaleckas asked the court to reduce his sentence and suspend its execution. The panel noted that he had previously been convicted five times for similar fraud and once for extortion. He is unemployed and committed the new offence while other pre-trial investigations were under way and a preventive measure was in force.

The court said previous legal measures and the preventive measure had failed to deter him from committing another crime. Its ruling took effect when it was issued on October 13, but may still be appealed to the Supreme Court of Lithuania.