Former New Jersey resident pleads guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for telemarketing scheme targeting timeshare owners over the age of 55

Date: July 23, 2025

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Camden, NJ — A former New Jersey resident recently pled guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his participation in a telemarketing scheme to defraud timeshare owners over the age of 55 from 2016 to 2020, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced today.

James Toner, a.k.a. “Jason Turner,” a.k.a. “James Turner,” a.k.a. “Jason Thomas,” of Lake Mary, Florida pleaded guilty today, before the Hon. Karen M. Williams, U.S. District Judge, Camden, to Counts One and Two of a 13-count Indictment, charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing that targeted or victimized timeshare owners over the age of 55 (Count One) and wire fraud in connection with telemarketing that targeted or victimized timeshare owners over the age of 55 (Count Two). Toner’s sentencing is scheduled for December 2, 2025.

Toner was previously charged by indictment along with William O’Hanlon, a.k.a. “Patrick Burns,” a.k.a. “William Burns,” Karen Stefanowski, and William Chiusano, Jr., of Laguna Niguel, California. Chiusano is now deceased, and charges against him have been dismissed. O’Hanlon and Stefanowski previously pleaded guilty before Judge Williams to their roles in fraudulent telemarketing schemes from 2016 to 2023 on May 9, 2025, and April 30, 2025, respectively.

In addition, Alex Klemash, of Williamstown, New Jersey, Michael Lambe, of Mullica Hill, New Jersey, and La’Tresa Jackson, of Lindenwold, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before Judge Williams on March 8, 9, and 13, 2023, respectively, to related Informations charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the 2016 to 2020 telemarketing scheme.

Accordingly, all living defendants charged for their roles in the telemarketing scheme from 2016 to 2020 have now pleaded guilty. The sentencings for the defendants are currently scheduled as follows:

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud charge to which Toner pleaded guilty arise out of his participation in a timeshare fraud scheme operated through businesses Williams Andrews Burns LLC, Resort BNB, Inc., and Williams & Burns, Inc. (collectively referred to as “WAB”). As part of his plea agreement, Toner admitted that he was a manager and supervisor at WAB.

From in or about October 2016 through in or about October 2020, Toner and additional co-conspirators (collectively referred to as “Conspirators”), engaged in a scheme to financially enrich themselves by selling fraudulent services to timeshare owners offered through WAB, including offering to rent and/or buy the owners’ timeshares under false and fraudulent pretenses or representations, and offering to recover monies timeshare owners had previously paid in connection with other scams. The Conspirators obtained lists of timeshare owners and their contact information, and cold-called them to pitch their various services in return for upfront fees.

The Conspirators made numerous false and misleading statements to the timeshare owners, including falsely stating that the timeshare owners had “bonus” timeshare weeks which WAB would rent for them in return for an upfront fee, and falsely guaranteeing thousands of dollars in rental income for the timeshare owners. Once the timeshare owners had signed up and paid their fees for the phony rentals services, the Conspirators also generally pitched collections/recovery services, offering to obtain refunds of monies previously paid by the timeshare owners in other fraudulent scams, in return for fees. Again, the Conspirators made numerous false and misleading statements in many instances to both timeshare owners and the banks that issues their credit cards. One of the fraudulent pitches used by the Conspirators was to falsely claim that the timeshare owner had been identified as a victim of timeshare fraud and was entitled to monies that were held by a government entity, often referred to as the attorney general’s office or the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), and that WAB would obtain those monies for the timeshare owner in return for the payment of an upfront fee. The Conspirators also offered additional fraudulent services to timeshare owners, including occasionally offering timeshare buyouts/take-overs.

Toner agreed to make restitution for any proven losses to victims of WAB.

Each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud is punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison, including an enhancement of 10 years in prison for committing such fraud via telemarketing that targeted persons over the age of 55 or victimized 10 or more persons over the age of 55. The sentences on each count may run consecutively. Each offense also carries a potential fine of the greater of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, and the defendant may be sentenced to a term of supervised release after any term of imprisonment imposed.

U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the IRS Criminal Investigations, Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer Piovesan; agents of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs; and special agents of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge, Cooperative Disability Investigations – Eastern Region, Conor Washington, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elisa T. Wiygul and Diana Vondra Carrig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.