Scammer who targeted NC vacationers sentenced

The lure of our area as a vacation destination has earned an Arizona man five years in federal prison. Prosecutors in Arizona say Edwin Lyle Negrin advertised rental homes on Topsail Island and Ocean Isle Beach online scamming at least 57 people out of about $200,000.

Investigators say Negrin got people mail him contracts and wire him deposits. That’s when he cut off communication.

A judge has also ordered Negrin to pay back his victims.