Hays Inmate Operates Heavy Equipment Scam From Prison

March 25th, 2021 – 10:00 AM

WZQZ Radio – 

(Via WZQZ Radio) According to an indictment handed down in Federal Court in Rome last week, a prisoner at Hays State Prison in Trion conducted a scam, selling over $1 million in construction equipment from his prison cell in Chattooga County.

Federal prosecutors say that Damon Thomas Young, an inmate at Hays State Prison, tricked two heavy equipment companies into delivery $1.5 million in heavy equipment to locations in Ranger, Georgia and then arranged to sell the construction equipment to unsuspecting buyers.

Prosecutors say that Young pretended to be a purchasing officer for a company planning to build a manufacturing business in Ranger, GA  Young then emailed a credit application that included the names of three actual people and obtained the credit needed to purchase the equipment.  He then arranged to sell the equipment to buyers who did not know that it had been stolen.

Records with the Georgia Department of Corrections show that Young is serving time for multiple offenses including assault, bad checks and arson.