Impersonator sentenced in federal court

A Seattle man accused of impersonating the son of country-western singer Merle Haggard and ringing up more than $61,000 in credit card purchases was sentenced Jan. 9 in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Mark Sams, 50, of Seattle, to 42 months in prison with three years of supervised release. Sams also owes $61,093.76 in restitution and a $200 special assessment.

Sams pleaded guilty to fraud and aggravated identity theft on Sept. 25. The U.S. Secret Service conducted the investigation.

According to  Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Sams convinced persons in the Whitefish area in April 2007 that he was Noel Haggard, the son of singer Merle Haggard.

Sams allegedly claimed he had been a Lear Jet pilot for 20 years and had worked for Clay Lacy Aviation, but that he quit flying due to health problems.

According to Mercer, Sams told his new Whitefish acquaintances that he needed to go to Mexico to check out a potential job managing a small resort near Puerto Vallarta. He said he had assisted Clay Lacy Aviation in selling jets and had a six-figure credit with the company, and he wanted to treat his new friends to a trip.

Sams and his Whitefish acquaintances departed from Glacier Park International Airport on April 29, 2007, aboard a chartered Clay Lacy jet. They flew to Prescott, Ariz., Las Vegas, Nev., Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, San Diego, Calif., Seattle, Wash., back to Prescott, Ariz., and then back to Kalispell.

An American Express credit card belonging to one of the people from Whitefish was used to pay for the trip, but the person never gave Sams permission, according to Mercer. The amount fraudulently charged for the charter flight was $61,093.76.

Sams faced up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release. He also faced an additional mandatory two-year imprisonment, consecutive to any other sentence, for aggravated identity theft.