A Spokane man who swindled several potential renters out of about $15,000 has been sentenced to a year pin prison.

Jeffery S. Crutchfield, 40, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and was ordered to spend a year and a day behind bars and pay $15,070 in restitution.

Crutchfield was considered a model tenant at 1328 E. Wabash Ave. when he began advertising the home for rent on Craigslist. He collected deposits from at least seven potential renters, but when they showed up to move in, they realized they'd been duped, court documents say.

Crutchfield has been in jail since his arrest last October.

He has previous theft convictions in Oregon, as well as a third-degree assault conviction relating to a 1996 drunken driving crash that paralyzed a woman. He was sentenced then to 13 months and jail and denied responsibility for the crash, according to previously published.

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