Former Jackson wedding planner sentenced on credit card fraud charges

STEELVILLE, Mo. -- A former Jackson wedding planner accused of illegally using client credit cards was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison.

Crawford County Circuit Judge William Seay imposed the sentence on Michael J. Erz­feld, 41, who pleaded guilty in November to a single felony count of fraudulent use of a credit device. Seay expressed the possibility that Erzfeld will be released early when he included shock detention in the sentence.

"The Department of Corrections will send a report to the judge in 120 days, after he's been in for four months, letting the judge know how he's doing in prison," said Jack Koester, Cape Girardeau County assistant prosecuting attorney.

Seay will then order Erz­feld to serve the remainder of his three-year sentence or release Erzfeld and place him on five years of probation.

Erzfeld used credit card numbers obtained while working as a real estate trainer to purchase expensive wine, home decorations and art.

Although Koester pushed for the entire four-year prison sentence, he said he was satisfied with Seay's judgement and that Erzfeld wasn't just given probation, which was what the defense was recommending.

According to Koester, Erz­feld's attorney, Jason Tilley, was pushing for probation in the form of a suspended imposition sentence because Erzfeld is in his early 40s and had no convictions prior to this case surfacing.

"We were opposed to probation just because I think he demonstrates a pattern of fraud," Koester said. "It wasn't just one incident, there were numerous instances where he used credit card numbers of former clients."

Since Erzfeld's initial arrest in December 2008, nine civil judgments have been filed against him totaling more than $248,000. Many of the judgments are his former clients seeking restitution.

Erzfeld was taken into custody immediately following his hearing to start serving his sentence.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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