Utah shop owners who stole $500K in donations get less than 3 years in prison

ST. GEORGE — A Utah couple accused of stealing more than half a million dollars in donations meant for Ukraine through their ammunition shop were sentenced to less than three years in prison.

John Earl Donaldson, 33, and Carlie Elizabeth Winters, 31, were charged in federal court in April 2024 with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The couple was accused of defrauding customers and financial institutions of almost $600,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of Utah.

Last year, Donaldson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Winters pleaded guilty shortly after to just wire fraud conspiracy.

"When customers queried about the order status, the defendants gave false excuses and claimed delivery was imminent. They used the victims' money — over $517,000 — for personal expenses. In all, Donaldson and Winters caused a $591,932.73 loss to four victims," prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum for Winters.

Donaldson's attorneys claim he has "acute" family responsibilities through two children he has shared custody of from a prior marriage and four children who live in the home with him and Winters. Winters also recently underwent back surgery and a high-risk pregnancy, defense attorneys said in a sentencing memorandum arguing for a lesser sentence of 15 months for Donaldson.

"These circumstances are relevant to the court's assessment of history and characteristics and the collateral impact of incarceration, and they counsel in favor of a modest variance that still imposes serious punishment while mitigating extraordinary family hardship," the memo states.

His attorneys also emphasized that Donaldson has maintained verifiable employment and income, showing that, upon release, he is "positioned to pay restitution steadily and lawfully support his family."

In a letter he wrote for the sentencing memorandum, Donaldson said he accepted full responsibility for his crimes that were "not a single lapse in judgment but a series of choices I made over an extended period."

"There is no justification for what I did, and I understand that no amount of good intentions or later efforts can erase the damage I caused. My actions undermined trust, diverted money, and caused harm to others. What I did was wrong, and I am ashamed of the choices I made," he said.

Donaldson explained he has already taken steps to fix his mistakes by making restitution payments, attending therapy and rebuilding his business and personal relationships.

Despite the defense's arguments for a lesser sentence, Donaldson was sentenced in February to two years in prison plus three years of probation. He started serving his sentence this month.

Winters' sentencing was delayed multiple times before she was sentenced on Tuesday to four months in prison with three years of probation. Her term will start in January 2027, according to court documents.

In her plea, Winters said she obtained money from customers "by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises" and then "spent customers' money on personal expenses instead of purchasing ammunition for them."

Both Donaldson and Winters will be prohibited from serving in any fiduciary capacity or from creating a new business during the probationary period. They are both under court-ordered financial obligations and all sources of income must go first to paying off the restitution of $591,932.73.

'Fraudulent from the start'

The couple ran a company called Urban Armz in St. George, which state records show was founded in late 2020, with Donaldson listed as its registered agent. Their website falsely claimed that the "company clients" included the FBI and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, according to court documents, and claimed they could "sell large quantities of ammunition to potential customers for competitively low prices."

Prosecutors said the company was "fraudulent from the start."

When a customer wired $90,000 to the company for 300,000 rounds of ammunition in December 2021, investigators say the company never delivered.

In April 2022, charging documents say a Detroit-based company paid Urban Armz $300,000 for body armor, while another nonprofit sent over $217,000 for "night vision goggles, thermal optics and other equipment" — both orders intended for Ukrainian first responders in war zones.

Neither order made it to Ukraine, according to the indictment, with Donaldson and Winters spending over $600,000 from the three orders on "unrelated parties, other withdrawals, shopping and transfers to personal accounts."

The two told each company that orders were delayed, sometimes blaming the shipping company or customs, before going silent, according to court documents.

"I falsely represented to a nonprofit organization that Urban Armz could fulfill an order of body armor and other equipment that the nonprofit intended to donate to Ukrainian first responders. After the nonprofit paid for the order, I falsely represented that the delivery was delayed and would imminently arrive," Donaldson said in his guilty plea statement.

Winters played a subordinate role in the crime, prosecutors said, but she still furthered the conspiracy by lying to victims, creating false documents and spending the stolen money.

"They took victims' money, knowing Urban Armz had no way to supply the promised goods," prosecutors said in their sentencing memo. "She and Donaldson exploited charitable donors' desire to help others in need. They took money for themselves that was meant to benefit first responders experiencing the horrors of war."

Donaldson was a federal law enforcement officer before working as a consultant for a private security company, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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