SHREVEPORT, La. — A Texas "con man" has been sentenced to 33 months of prison after taking more than $39,000 from his friends using fictional roofing contracts.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Louisiana, Glenn Lee Dobbs, Jr., 51, of DeBerry, Texas, has been sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, on wire fraud charges. Dobbs was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $391,241.

Dobbs was indicted by a federal grand jury for wire fraud and pleaded guilty to the charge on April 15, 2021.

The news release states Dobbs told his victims — two friends of his — that he owned and operated a commercial roofing business. In March 2017, he told one of his victims that his company had a contract with Roadrunner Rubber Company, a tire and wheel manufacturer in Houston, Texas, to roof its building. Dobbs asked for money to pay for the materials associated with the contract, and in exchange, would split the profits with his friend. The victim believed Dobbs had the contract and paid him $212,348. 

Around a month later, the FBI found that Dobbs asked for money from a second victim for a roofing contract he had with the Tomball school district to roof a building. Like the first victim, Dobbs agreed to split the profits if the friend provided money for the material costs. The second victim believed him and paid him $178,893.

"Dobbs defrauded the victims in the Western District of Louisiana while already under federal indictment in the Eastern District of Texas for carrying out a similar scheme there," the release said.

The FBI was the investigative agency in this case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leon H. Whitten prosecuted the case.