Baker says the case involved a Hall County company, of which Cornelius Coleman "Cole" Martin III was a principal, that was selling wood flooring at reduced prices via the Internet. Baker says between January 2003 and April 2004, Martin, along with his father, was one of the principles in a company that was known as BeaverFlooring.com, among other names.
This company, Baker said, operated out of their home in Gainesville.
"Their scheme was to lure customers in via the Internet with low prices for high quality wood flooring. They would send out samples of this 'high quality flooring' to the customers. The customers would then order the flooring paying between 50 - 100% of the purchase price up front. Then they either never received their orders or what they received was of such inferior quality that it was unusable."
Baker added that upon complaining and requesting refunds, Martin and his father "would stall using various tactics (and) ultimately, the customers never got their money or the products."
The attorney general said more than 122 people were victimized.
Hall County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Oliver took the guilty plea in Gainesville on Tuesday. As part of a negotiated plea, Martin was sentenced to a 20-year sentence, three years to serve in custody with the remaining time to be served on probation making restitution to his victims.
Martin is currently serving time in federal prison for charges arising out of New York. At the conclusion of the federal time, he will be returned to the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve the balance of his state sentence. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $518,559.21. He has also agreed to testify and cooperate in the case against his father, Cornelius Coleman "Neal" Martin, Jr.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/6/108437