A former Rochester man has pleaded guilty to his part in a Ponzi scheme, and charges he sold the COVID protective masks to the Veterans Affairs Department that did not exist.
Federal prosecutors say 41-year-old Christopher Parris, along with Perry Santillo, bilked taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars.
In the Ponzi scheme, the two men solicited new investors to pay off other investors in a failed enterprise. One Victor couple lost more than $200,000.
Parris now lives in Georgia and will be sentenced in December. Santillo also is awaiting sentencing.