SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A one-time local sports radio personality has changed his plea in a multi-million dollar fraud case.
A lot of our viewers might remember Jeff Thurn, who used to work for ESPN Radio 99.1.
Thurn was indicted last year in Sioux Falls on five counts of wire fraud, but the case was later transferred to federal court in Florida.
Last week he plead guilty to one count of wire fraud as part of a plea deal.
In 2012, KELOLAND News interviewed Sioux Falls native Jeff Thurn, who was broadcasting sports for ESPN Radio on his weekly show Overtime with Jeff Thurn.
Back then he told us how proud he was of his sports connections.
“I get the opportunity to kind of bring a fresh face to the market and with my experience at Sirius XM, with the NFL, the pro teams down in Nashville I bring a lot of guests you’d typically wouldn’t get in the Sioux Falls market on a daily basis,” Thurn said.
According to court documents beginning in 2015, Thurn told investors he had relationships he could leverage in order to buy and resell sporting and other entertainment event tickets for profit.
Investors wired or transferred more than $5 million to Thurn who fabricated receipts and the ticket sales never really happened.
Some of the checks were written to cash. Others were used for gambling or trading cryptocurrency.
Thurn faces up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine when he’s sentenced in December.
Thurn left ESPN radio in February of last year.
