A 50-year-old Mount Holly man pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud Wednesday.

Ronald Shane Hough, who assisted in the defrauding of thousands of individuals of a total amount between $550,000 and $1 million, will serve up to five years in prison, though the judge has not yet scheduled a sentencing date, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

“Hough is a financial predator who harassed, bullied and tricked victims into paying off debts that, in many instances, were not owed,” said R. Andrew Murray, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. “The victims targeted by the scheme, some of whom were elderly, were forced to pay off debts, many times fictitious, just to get the harassing calls to stop.”

The investigation, which was led by the FBI, found Hough served as a collections manager for Direct Processing, a debt collection company that defrauded victims by using “threatening and abusive tactics,” such as using false company names.

“Protecting Americans from financial exploitation is a priority for this office and we will continue to go after fraudulent debt collection companies that use threats and lies to force victims into submitting to demands for money,” Murray said.