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Yesterday, a Florida man pleaded guilty to defrauding a North Bend casino, in a deeply "Florida Man" sort of way.
Howard Harlib, 67, admitted to falsely claiming to represent the Village People—as in the costume-wearing '70s disco band most famous for "Y.M.C.A."—and charging Oregon's Mill Casino $12,500 for a fraudulent booking.
The grift took place in August 2015. The Coos Bay casino reached out to Harlib, a Florida resident, in response to a flier claiming that Harlib could book the Village People for shows.
Harlib sent the casino a brochure for his company, Premier Entertainment, as well as a contract charging the casino $12,500 for the booking. The casino signed the agreement and sent Harlib a check, which he cashed two days later.
Mill Casino figured out Harlib's ruse in January 2016, when the business noticed that the Village People where scheduled to play a show in Florida the same day the band was supposedly set to be perform in North Bend.
After the casino could not get in contact with Harlib, it reached out to an actual representative of the Village People, who confirmed Harlib has no association with the band.
Harlib was charged with wire fraud in April 2019, and pleaded guilty on June 2. He's been ordered to pay $12,500 in restitution to the Coquille Indian Tribe, which runs the casino.
The Mill Casino did not respond to WW's request for comment.
This wasn't Harlib's first con. In 2004, he locked down two contracts for a concert that supposedly featured soul legends the Temptations, the Supremes and Jimmie Walker. Harlib served five years of jail time for that fake booking. Shortly after that, he did another five years for impersonating a doctor.
Related: Casinos in Oregon and Washington Outline Plans for Reopening.