Windmill Scammer Sentenced

A windmill salesman convicted of swindling customers in the Upper Peninsula has been sentenced to up to fifteen years in prison. 57-year old Billy Lee Parish of Kincheloe pleaded no contest last month to one count of larceny by conversion greater than $20,000 in Delta County Circuit Court. As a habitual offender, Parish will have to spend a minimum of four years behind bars. He was convicted of forgery in Delta County in 1998. Parish admitted scamming nearly $100,000 from about 45 customers from throughout the Upper Peninsula from May to November of 2011. Additional fraud charges against Parish are pending in other counties in the U.P. as well as the Lower Peninsula.