Fontana man sentenced to 10 years for scamming victims including businesses and romantic partners

A Fontana man was sentenced Monday, March 27 to 10 years in a federal prison for defrauding eight women, some of whom he developed romantic relationships with, and nine businesses, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Ze’Shawn Stanley Campbell, 35, formerly of Irvine, befriended and started relationships with victims to convince them he was reliable from April 2014 to April 2020, the DOJ said in a news release.

In these relationships, he claimed to have vast wealth and several successful businesses as a means to build credibility among the victims, according to the news release. Campbell also falsely claimed to be a successful investor and that he had served as a Navy SEAL in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The lies were used to convince victims to provide him with property and money to support his businesses and medical bills, the release said. Campbell used the funds provided to him, instead, on luxury items and other personal expenses, prosecutors said.

As an example, in December 2017, a victim wrote him a check for $61,452 that was deposited into Campbell’s account. He used this money for personal reasons such as to make payments on a BMW and a Mercedes-Benz that were leased in another victim’s name.

Campbell pleaded guilty in October 2022 to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi found that the losses caused by Campbell exceeded $550,000 and set another hearing to determine the restitution owed to the victims.

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