Convicted swindler gets state prison term

March 29--HAMILTON -- For years, the elderly Virginia couple had trusted the man they knew as Jerry Dawson.

He'd named them as godparents to one of his children. And when Jack Larmer became ill with cancer, they trusted Dawson to handle their investment up in Hamilton, the Canter Brook Equestrian Center.

Now, Jack Larmer and his wife, Katherine, find themselves "petrified" of the man whose real name, prosecutors say, is Jeffrey Scott Haywood.

On Tuesday, that man was sentenced to 3 1/2 to four years in state prison, to be followed by five years of probation, for a scheme that, at a minimum, cost the Larmers $100,000.

That is the amount that could be proved to the degree required under the law, prosecutor John Dawley told a Salem Superior Court judge on Tuesday. Though records show the Larmers had sent him $1.1 million over the years, at least some of that was used to operate Canter Brook. But the $100,000 theft, a mortgage Dawson obtained by forging the signature of Jack Larmer, was easily proved, he said.

And that's the amount of restitution Judge James Lang ordered Dawson/Haywood to repay while he's on probation.

"This was, in my view, a protracted and extended course of larcenous conduct," said Lang, who had presided over Dawson's trial. Dawson, believed to be 50, was convicted of nine counts on March 9, including multiple counts of larceny and forgery.

He was sentenced on five of those counts Tuesday; four other charges were set aside by the judge as duplicative counts.

Lang acknowledged that actual amount taken was likely far more than what could be proved. And, the judge said, it was not only a financial blow to the Larmers but an abuse of the couple's trust.

"This defendant exploited the close, personal, almost familial relationship he had with the Larmers," said Lang, who said Dawson also exploited the distance and Jack Larmer's health problems.

Larmer "entrusted" the management of his investment to Dawson, said the judge. "It turns out that was a terrible mistake."

'In over his head'

Dawson's attorney, meanwhile, said his client simply got in over his head in a business he couldn't handle.

"This isn't something where Mr. Dawson set out to defraud the Larmers from the beginning," said public defender Brendan Kelley.

Kelley pointed to the time that his client had spent in custody, held on bail while awaiting trial, and urged Lang to impose probation.

Dawley, the prosecutor, asked for a six- to eight-year state prison term.

"Fraud, deceit, lying, misrepresentation," said Dawley. "This is his MO. This is the defendant's agenda, and he took advantage. ... it's how the defendant has lived his life."

And for the first time, Dawley delved into details of Dawson's past, including two other aliases, Gordon Horvath and Jerry Larson, and a history of arrests for fraudulent or larcenous crimes in New Jersey, North Carolina and in Pennsylvania, where he's still wanted by authorities in a credit card fraud case from 1990.

In 2012, Dawson was charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors after an underage drinking party at the equestrian center, said the prosecutor.

Dawley also cited an alleged murder-for-hire plot, first detailed last year in a hearing to increase Dawson's bail. Dawley told the judge that the investigation into the plot, in which Dawson allegedly attempted to recruit a fellow inmate to arrange for the murder of the Larmers, is continuing, though no charges have been filed.

The prosecutor said the other inmate was found with a diagram of the Larmers' Virginia home, and Dawson's daughter had transferred money into his jail "canteen" account.

Victims 'devastated,' afraid

Katherine Larmer, in a victim impact statement, said she and her husband were already "devastated" by the scheme, and by other falsehoods Dawson had told, including a claim that he was suffering from advanced lymphoma and needed money, and his misstating the price of a home and lot he'd sold for them.

But the worst, she told the judge, was when they were told of the alleged plot to have them killed so they could not testify.

"Both of us were petrified," she said, describing a visit from the police in Fairfax County, Virginia.

The retired nurse and Larmer, who'd run successful businesses, had never worried for their safety. But now, she said, they both own guns, have taken lessons, and keep their curtains closed. They worry about their children and grandchildren as well.

But the judge said he couldn't, under the law, consider the plot or other misconduct for which he has not been charged, or the cases that are still open in other states.

Katherine Larmer sighed and bowed her head slightly.

Dawson had written a letter to the judge prior to his sentencing. Lang ordered it sealed, citing "personal details" about the defendant's childhood.

He gave Dawson a chance to speak in court. Dawson said he'd simply been trying to repay the Larmers, "make them whole."

"I never intended to hurt the Larmers, ever. That's been misconstrued from day one. I would never do that. As far as any other allegations, they're totally false. I'll take a lie detector," he said, before chuckling slightly. "It's completely not true."

After disputing some of Jack Larmer's trial testimony, he turned toward them. "I just want to say they've never been in any danger at all from me, and that's from my heart."

Katherine Larmer let out a gasp.

Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis.

DAWNSON: Convicted swindler is sentenced to state prison

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