Duluth man falsely claims to be attorney, sentenced for fraud

A Duluth man has been sentenced to 21 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for wire fraud.

Court documents say that Gale Allen Rachuy defrauded a victim by pretending to be an attorney that could handle his legal proceedings.

The 73-year-old also told the victim that we would be able to get former federal and state court judge to work on the victim’s case.

Rachuy told the victim they would need to a $10,000 dollar retainer fee- with the first payment due in March of 2022.

The victim was scheduled to wire another $2,500 installment in April of 2022- but became suspicious of Rachuy after not seeing any drafts or filings in his case.

Despite assuring the victim that the funds would be returned, Rachuy never gave back the money.

Rachuy pleaded guilty in May to one count of wire fraud.

This case is a result of an investigation from the FBI.