An eyeglass salesman who once threatened to rape and murder a woman for complaining about his shoddy wares copped to a sweet deal in Manhattan court Tuesday, pleading guilty to wire and mail-fraud charges in a related case in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Fraudster Vitaly Borker, who systematically targeted people online for complaining about his products, admitted Tuesday in federal court that he has continued to scam customers. Borker, 41, appeared remorseless as he mumbled through a statement.
While he could have faced decades behind bars if convicted, the shady businessman may get as few as three to four years under the plea agreement.
He’s due back in court May 23 for sentencing.
Borker was first sentenced to four years in prison in 2012 for the same crimes.
After being released from federal lockup in 2015, Borker reverted to his old ways — this time through the online eyeglass Web site OpticsFast.com, which is based in Brooklyn. He was arrested — a violation of his parole — and thrown back behind bars in February to await court.
One of his victims claimed that he had received so many harassing texts from Borker’s company that he had to change his phone number. The unnamed victim had simply requested a shipping label and then changed his mind after reading bad reviews of the company — which prompted the shady businessman to send him some “70 text messages per day from approximately 70 different numbers (all about OpticsFast),” according to court papers.