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Man gets nearly 6 months of house arrest in plot to sell N95 masks he didn't actually have

Paul Penn, 64, of Johns Creek was arrested and charged last year.

ATLANTA — A Johns Creek man who was accused last year of concocting a scheme to sell 50 million N95 masks he didn't actually have to a foreign government has been sentenced to about six months of house arrest.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Georgia, in Savannah, announced the sentencing earlier this week.

They said 64-year-old Paul Penn pleaded guilty to the scheme, which U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine said "would have lit the fuse on an international scandal by ripping off a friendly foreign government for more than $300 million."

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Christine said the U.S. Secret Service disrupted the scheme. The foreign government that was almost scammed was not named.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Penn was also fined $1,500 and given three years of probation.

According to Christine, Penn used a company called Spectrum Global Holdings, LLC, to "act as a middleman in exchange for a cut of the $317 million sales price," which was a 500 percent markup of the typical market value of N95 masks.

The foreign government, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, actually wired him the money, but the transaction was stopped by the Secret Service "before the criminals got a dime."

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“Using a worldwide pandemic as an opportunity to take advantage of those searching for badly needed personal protective equipment is reprehensible,” Christine said last year, at the time Penn was charged.

Penn's alleged co-conspirators have not been named. It's not clear if they also face charges.

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