Nahant man jailed for one year on probation violation

SALEM – A Nahant man, who was convicted in an insurance fraud scheme 13 years ago but still owed the state nearly $34,000 in restitution, was found in violation of his probationary terms and sentenced to a year in jail.Edwin L. Gaeta, 69, of 8 Harbor View Road, Nahant, appeared Thursday afternoon with his attorney, Russell L. Sobelman, who asked Judge Howard J. Whitehead to extend his probation again and set a $100 monthly restitution fee for the next three years while citing his client?s medical issues.Whitehead, however, was not persuaded and instead ordered Gaeta to serve a year in jail.Last month, Probation Officer Sonia Archer reported that since 2008 Gaeta has failed to pay the $400 a month ordered earlier by Whitehead and has slacked off even more since.At that time Whitehead found him in violation but gave Gaeta a month to either come up with the full $33,895 still owed in restitution or he would impose a sentence or, in the alternative, if he came up with some of the money, Whitehead said he would consider extending his probation again. But Gaeta showed up with no cash at all.Gaeta was convicted in an insurance fraud scheme 13 years ago. He was ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution for his role in the 1998 case in which he and another man, William Carr, now 64, formerly of Lawrence, staged the theft of a bus in order to collect about $120,000 in insurance money.The bus was later located in Vermont, when an unwary buyer detected inconsistencies with its vehicle identification number.The restitution was part of the probationary negotiations reached after Gaeta served a stint in the House of Corrections, which at that time overlapped a federal sentence he was already serving on drug, loansharking and weapon charges.But since his release from custody, Gaeta has only paid a small portion of what he owes and has constantly been before Whitehead explaining his financial situation, but declining to produce evidence of his income.Archer had suggested a longer penalty would be appropriate.