Southwest Idaho boat builder sentenced to prison for fraud

A former southwestern Idaho businessman who took prepaid orders for jet boats and trailers but then left the state without filling the orders has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison.

Forty-two-year-old Christopher Bohnenkamp received the sentence Tuesday in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to wire fraud and bank fraud in April.

Bohnenkamp owned Treasure Valley Marine and Bohnenkamp’s Whitewater Customs from 2009 through 2015 in Meridian.

The plea agreement says Bohnenkamp knew his companies were broke but continued to take money from more than a dozen customers, using the money to complete the boats of existing customers. He eventually moved to upstate New York to start a boat tour business.

Prosecutors say his customers and suppliers lost $3.2 million.

A separate hearing is planned to determine restitution.