A 57-year-old Elkton man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Minneapolis for defrauding others out of hundreds of thousands of dollars under the guise that the money would be invested in collector vehicles.

United States District Court Chief Judge Michael J. Davis sentenced Fred Engelhart to 366 days in prison on one count of wire fraud in connection to his crime, according to a press release. Engelhart was indicted on Nov. 17, 2009, and he pleaded guilty on Jan. 6.

In his plea agreement, Engelhart admitted to acting as a broker of collector vehicles, receiving money from investors, and representing that the money would be used to purchase those vehicles. Instead, Engelhart used the money to purchase real estate for his own benefit, the release states.

Specifically, on March 23, 2007, Engelhart transferred $250,000 to his bank account for that purpose. As a result of the fraud, Engelhart was held responsible for a loss of between $400,000 and $1 million.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force.