Scam artist who claimed he could book Justin Bieber gets prison

NEW YORK, July 30 (UPI) -- A scam artist who made false claims of booking Justin Bieber and other international stars has been sentenced to 5 to 10 years in a New York prison.

Meceo McEaddy, 39, also known as Ray Annis, conned his victims out of more than $1 million, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said. Instead of using the money as he had promised, he spent it at nightclubs, restaurants and furniture stores.

A judge sentenced McEaddy on Tuesday. He was also ordered to help pay a total of $2.7 million in restitution with his sometime partner, Sylvester Vincent Carroll, 48.

Both McEaddy and Carroll pleaded guilty. Carroll was sentenced to 3 to 9 years at an earlier hearing.

In addition to Bieber, the pair between them accepted money for supposedly booking Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige and other top performers for concerts and private parties. They admitted scamming $825,000 from a Brazilian company that believed they were arranging Rihanna concerts in Rio de Janeiro.