(TNS) — A man scammed a nationwide business out of more than $1.2 million while serving a Florida state prison sentence for robbery, according to federal prosecutors, and used some of the money tied to the fraud to build a house.

Now, Jared Borgesto Murray, 41, of St. Petersburg, has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a July 3 news release.

Murray was represented by defense attorneys Summer Rae Goldman and Maribeth L. Wetzel, of Goldman Wetzel PLLC in St. Petersburg.

Goldman told McClatchy News in an emailed statement on July 7 that “this was an especially unique case, and Mr. Murray accepted responsibility.”

According to prosecutors, Murray caused a national business to lose $1,260,495.89 between January 2019 and September 2020, when he was incarcerated following his robbery conviction in Pinellas County.

Though the business was not identified by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, court records show Murray was ordered to pay $1,269,495.89 in restitution to Lowe’s Hardware Store as part of his sentencing.

The scheme prosecutors said Murray led from state prison involved others accused of working with him, “contraband phones he had smuggled into” the facility and impersonating customers.

Murray, while posing as customers, made calls to different locations of the business and bought products “using the customers’ open lines of credit,” according to prosecutors.

Then, Murray and his alleged co-conspirators sold the products online at lower prices and illegally earned more $1.2 million, prosecutors said.

Murray and others said to be involved had the items delivered to various buyers, who, according to prosecutors, “paid Murray and the conspirators via wire transfers and mailed checks.”

Murray spent some of the money he received from the scheme to buy materials for a home he built in Lake Placid, about a 105-mile drive southeast from St. Petersburg, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The home and $43,550 from Murray’s bank accounts were ultimately forfeited by authorities, prosecutors said.

In court filings ahead of Murray’s sentencing on July 2, Wetzel, on his behalf, wrote that this was “an unusual case — one that leaves observers remarking, ‘If only Mr. Murray had applied his talents to legitimate business, imagine how far he could have gone.’”

“Mr. Murray, while incarcerated, took it upon himself to build a house, which is an extraordinary testament to his resourcefulness, drive, and potential for rehabilitation,” a sentencing memorandum filed by Wetzel says.

Wetzel had asked the court to consider a below guidelines sentence for Murray, the filing shows, before U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday sentenced him to serve nearly five years in prison.

In the sentencing memo, Wetzel characterized Murray’s case as a “story of misguided talent, missed opportunities, and systemic neglect.”