Georgian who keyed McDonald's game scam gets 37 months

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - The man who masterminded a multimillion-dollar scheme to redeem stolen McDonald&#39;s games pieces was sentenced Thursday to 37 months in prison. <br> <br> Jerome Jacobson, 59, of Lawrenceville, Ga., admitted stealing pieces from popular promotional games as ``Monopoly&#39;&#39; and ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire&#39;&#39; and testified he took most of the high-value tickets issued for the games from 1995 to 2001. <br> <br> He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and two counts of mail fraud, faces up to $750,000 in fines and has been ordered to pay more than $13.4 million in restitution. <br> <br> Jacobson said he embarrassed his family and was sorry that more than 200 people lost their jobs when McDonald&#39;s stopped doing its $500 million-a-year business with the marketing company. <br> <br> ``I am deeply ashamed of what I have done,&#39;&#39; Jacobson said. <br> <br> Jacobson stole the pieces, many for $1 million prizes, while working as head of security for Simon Marketing. He first stole a $25,000 piece in 1989 and gave it to his stepbrother. He sold others to family and friends, who recruited other people to join in. <br> <br> Jacobson oversaw a security process that began at a printing plant where pieces were made, separated by value and stored in a vault. He was responsible for transporting those pieces in sealed envelopes to plants that manufactured McDonald&#39;s food cartons and cups, where the pieces were supposed to be attached. <br> <br> But Jacobson would carefully open the envelopes and steal the pieces. He received cash kickbacks for stealing 50 to 60 pieces and bought homes, cars and other property, which he forfeited after his arrest in August. <br> <br> ``He&#39;s a man who breached the trust given to him by his employer,&#39;&#39; federal prosecutor Mark Devereaux said, ``and he seduced others who would in all likelihood not have involved themselves in criminal conduct but for the lure of easy money.&#39;&#39;

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