Moon businessman serving federal sentence may serve state sentence simultaneously

A former contractor from Moon who is serving a 63-month federal prison sentence for fraud may get to serve a 3- to 10-year state sentence for prescription and home-improvement fraud at the same time, court officials said.

Ryan Blumling, 35, pleaded guilty Thursday in four cases involving the illegal acquisition of prescription oxycodone pills and taking nearly $12,000 from a family in Moon to do home improvements he never completed.

He pleaded guilty to mail fraud and wire fraud in federal court in April for bilking more than 130 people out of a total of $2 million he told them would go into coal mining operations or toward business loans, but really paid for his own expenses or a Ponzi scheme.

Defense attorney Robert Stewart said Blumling had been feeding an oxycodone addiction he developed after surgery; prosecutors from the Allegheny County District Attorney's office and state Attorney General's Office said he fraudulently obtained more than 5,000 pills between 2012 and 2013.

“He's had this monkey on his back for a long time,” Stewart said. The federal prison drug rehabilitation program could help Blumling, he said.

As part of Blumling's plea agreement, Common Pleas Judge Randal Todd sentenced him to 3 to 10 years in prison that could be concurrent to his federal sentence and be served at the federal prison. But Todd noted that federal officials could reject the idea and require him to serve his state time separately.

Todd ordered Blumling to pay restitution to the family he took money from for the home-improvement project, but acknowledged that Blumling owes $1.5 million to the victims of his federal crimes.

“He not only ruined our lives and our property, he stripped us of 20 years of money,” said Sandy Becker, a victim of the home-improvement fraud who noted she and her husband took out a loan for the work. “I think using drugs as an excuse is wrong, I really do.”

Matthew Santoni is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-391-0927 or msantoni@tribweb.com.