Michael Nelson: Convicted Florida ‘serial con man’ launches legal advice business
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: Following a report that referred to him as a "serial con man," a national consumer referral website has removed the Florida accounting and legal services business founded by a felon, Michael Nelson. Reportedly, Nelson may have cleared a criminal background check as the Jacksonville firm was listed on the referral website Thumbtack, an online directory that lets users browse and rate service providers. Nelson, 51, was sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison over the course of the last 25 years after being found guilty in three states of crimes like wire fraud, computer fraud, and identity theft.
Nelson’s online biography, which was recently removed from the website, described him as a “partner” at the company and claimed he had “over 30 years” of executive management and complex mediation experience, Click Orlando reported. However, according to court documents as seen by the outlet, Nelson has spent the majority of that time behind bars. His biography also stated that he graduated from the correspondence school Stratford Career Institute in 2009 with a master's degree in psychology and social work. According to court records, Nelson was held by the federal government in that year.
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Since completing federally supervised probation earlier this year, Nelson has not been charged with any new crimes, and no clients of his new company have complained to him about it. The outlet's investigation further reveals that advertising for Nelson's business claimed that it offered "legal services" on websites like Nicelocal, Google, and Facebook. Nelson's company was additionally advertised on the website Thumbtack, a service that allows customers to connect with nearby businesses online. On Thumbtack's website, Nelson had his background checked, the report further mentioned.
Nelson’s Thumbtack page was removed from the website earlier this month after it faced backlash. It stated, “We adhere to industry standards for background checks, which are processed through a nationally accredited third-party provider. We have taken action with our provider and removed Mr. Nelson from the Thumbtack platform as he’s in violation of our terms of service.”
In 2010, a judge while sentencing Nelson stated, “Mr. Nelson is a serial con man who we don’t believe can be deterred.” Assistant US Attorney Scott Drury told WBBM-TV after the sentencing, “The fact that Mr. Nelson could come and take churches for hundreds of thousands of dollars, as the judge said, where they’re scrimping for money, was especially egregious in this case.”