CLEARFIELD – A man who wrote a bad check to purchase a home for over $197,000 but moved into it anyway argued in court Monday about getting his belongings back.
James Bernard Schubert, 60, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of theft by deception before President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman, who sentenced Schubert to 21 months to six years in state prison.
Prior to sentencing, Schubert explained that he was arrested while he was away camping and was unable to get his items including some antiques out of the residence.
Because the home is on the market again, he is concerned he will lose his furnishings and have to start over once he is released from prison.
His attorney, Jendi Schwab, asked that the restitution of $15,810 be reduced because the owners have the property back. She was encouraged to file a motion for a restitution hearing. She also mentioned the items left in the home.
Schwab argued for a maximum sentence of four years instead of six due to Schubert’s age and health, which Ammerman decided against, sticking with the original plea.
Ammerman noted that Schubert has a long history of thefts that go back to the 1980’s and in various counties.
“He’s been around,” Ammerman stated, adding that Schubert is a “career criminal.”
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the victim notified police of the crime in September of 2020. He said he met Schubert and a woman in late June of 2020 when they were living in a camper in a strip mine. Schubert told him they were looking to buy a house.
They claimed they were in the process of buying one but were unable to close the deal because of complications from divorce proceedings.
After he showed them the property on Lick Run Road in Lawrence Township, he said he would take it. The owner allowed them to stay in the camper in his driveway.
In July they met with an attorney to complete the paper work. A man was identified as Schubert’s financial advisor prepared the check for $197,292.74, which included closing costs.
Schubert told the attorney to hold the check for a week to allow bank transfers from Pittsburgh to be completed.
After this, the victim allowed them to move into the home and the utility bills were transferred into their names.
Later he contacted the attorney saying to hold the check because it was bad and he would issue another one, but never did.
Schubert also arranged to purchase the victim’s pickup truck after he traded it to a local dealer, but never showed up at the dealer to complete the deal.
At another point, Schubert agreed to pay $15,000 more for furniture and other belongings that were still in the house, which he and the woman were using.
When investigators contacted the attorney to get the check, which was a cashier’s check from a bank in Pittsburgh, they discovered the routing number was for another bank.
The bank with the correct routing number confirmed the account number on the check did not exist in their bank.
