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Spa-selling con faces years of prosecution in 3 Western states By DANI DODGE Mail Tribune County by county, state by state, the scales of justice are weighing heavily on spa huckster Todd Surgeon. The former Jackson County resident is accused of bilking victims in Nevada, California and Oregon by selling them spas he never delivered and peddling them stock he was never authorized to sell. He's already facing five years in prison for a guilty plea in one Nevada County this month and has pending charges or sentencings in five other Western counties. Surgeon is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from dozens of people in Oregon and will eventually have to settle that score in a Jackson County courtroom. "He's working through the Nevada system right now," said Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Holly Smith. "As soon as everyone else gets done with him, we get him." Surgeon, 31, first made headlines in Jackson County in 1999 when he announced plans to raise $20 million for charities in the Rogue Valley by opening 777 leisure-products showrooms around the country. His grand scheme was never realized as reports of his crimes started to surface. After a nine-month investigation by Medford police, Surgeon was indicted on racketeering charges in January 2000. Police allege he was taking money for spas he never delivered and selling bogus securities in his company Team Americana Inc. Early estimates placed the amount of money he bilked out of Oregonians, in Medford and statewide, at $250,000. But after being arrested here, he got permission to go to Nevada in February 2000, where he started doing the same thing, Smith said. He was arrested again. This time, his bail was set beyond his ability to pay his way out. "We're last because they got him first," Smith said. "He's a wheeler and dealer." Surgeon was convicted first on the spa theft scam in Placer County, Calif., where he had marketed spas from a booth he set up in the parking lot of a closed business, said Placer County Deputy District Attorney Bill Doyle. He pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement on April 5, 2000. Surgeon has not yet been sentenced there. The district attorney is asking for about $36,000 in restitution for those victims. "But it's like squeezing blood out of a turnip," Doyle said. "You won't see a dime out of Mr. Surgeon. He's hidden it if he hasn't spent it." Surgeon next was taken to Clark County, Nev. There he had sold stocks in another company, Americana Inc., promising buyers a risk-free investment and a return of three times their investment within a year. He pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud and was sentenced March 6 to five years in prison. "The fact is the judge found it heinous enough to sentence him to the maximum amount," said Francis Arenas, a Clark County deputy district attorney. Arenas said Surgeon met his victims through friends of friends and through home shows. "What you have is an individual who can talk to people," Arenas said. "Everybody expected good things. That's the nature of people." Surgeon is now in Washoe County, Nev., where he faces one count of grand theft and 11 counts of obtaining money by false pretenses, said Washoe County Deputy District Attorney Kay Lyon. His preliminary hearing is May 17. There are 12 victims who lost about $66,000, Lyon said. She noted, though, that he didn't fail to deliver every spa he sold in Washoe. "He did deliver one spa to our grand theft victim," she said. "And then, without permission, took it back." After his charges are resolved in Washoe, he heads for Douglas County, Nev., where he faces one count of grand theft and another of obtaining by false pretenses, said Kris Brown, Douglas County deputy district attorney. In that county, one victim allegedly was taken for $1,900. Then he may or may not return to deal with a 1995 theft warrant out of Riverside County, Calif., before returning to the Jackson County Jail to await trial here. Arenas, who got the five-year sentence against Surgeon in Clark County, said he warned the victims not to expect much in the way of restitution when the cases are all concluded. He said it appears the money Surgeon took from people was frittered away. "It was used by the defendant in whatever personal expenses he had," Arenas said. "What we determined was he spent a lot on himself and it was mainly a lot of personal expenses - hotels, airfare and trips." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.