Jan. 13—A Waseca man received a two-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay about $479,632 in restitution after pleading guilty to wire fraud this week in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

Matthew Harold Schumacher, 46, was initially indicted in 2020 for "fraudulently misappropriating almost $500,000 of commission payments earned by dozens of small business travel agents," according to court filings.

The scheme reportedly took place between August 2016 and January 2019 while he owned a host travel agency called Travel Troops. A legitimate host travel agency, court records state, gives smaller travel agencies access to large travel suppliers ranging from hotels to tour operators to airlines in exchange for a fee.

"Unfortunately for his victims, there was little about Schumacher's business that resembled a legitimate travel host agency," prosecutors stated in a filing. " ... Schumacher routinely kept his travel agents' money, siphoned their hard-earned commission payments for his own benefit, misled them, and left them behind when they complained or demanded their money."

At least 36 people were identified as victims in the scheme.

Schumacher marketed Travel Troops as a veteran-owned business with values "he professed to learn as a soldier for six years in the United States Army," the filing states. He used dog tags on the business' logo and had the motto "No Agent Left Behind."

Prosecutors stated his claims about his military record turned out to be false.

Victims described being devastated by his fraudulent scheme. One who was identified at "T.M." in court filings stated they lost two years of income and work, forcing them to "claw back up to a place that I could just be on my own two feet."

Another person, identified as "J.B.," told the court that Schumacher "had my trust and totally stomped on it."

With the money, Schumacher reportedly used $150,000 for his own travel expenses, took out another $33,000 in cash and paid off personal expenses including retail purchases, restaurant bills, car payments and more.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew S. Ebert argued that Senior Judge Ann D. Montgomery should give Schumacher a 27-month sentence. Schumacher's defense attorney, Matthew D. Forsgren, argued that he receive probation with conditions.

In a filing, Forsgren described Schumacher as a devoted father of two adult children who has sought out psychotherapy to treat his mental illnesses and a recovery program to treat his alcoholism. He reportedly earns $100,000 per year at his job at Camping World in Jordan and had repaid more than $30,000 to victims as of early December.

He apologized to his victims in a filing, stating he knows he violated their trust.

"My goal is to pay back every dollar I took from each and every one of you," he stated. "I hope over time you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for what I have done, but I know this will take time and my actions following my words, and for some this may never happen, and I get this as well. For all of this, I am truly sorry to each and every one of you."

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