Fraud arrest after two-year investigation

A Chippewa County man is facing 11 felony counts of fraud after being arrested in Pennsylvania.

Michigan State Police from the Gladstone Post say he is Billy Lee Parrish, 57, of Kincheloe. He was arrested in Pittsburgh on December 23rd after a two-year joint investigation by the Gladstone Post and the Delta County Sheriff’s Department. Police say Parrish was living in Pittsburgh under an assumed name.

The fraud incidents he’s charged with took place in Delta County from May 2011 to November 2011. Police say about 45 victims have been identified across the U.P. so far, with nearly $100,000 believed to be taken from them.

Parrish asked homeowners if they wanted to buy electricity-generating windmills. Alleged victims have said he would take a down payment and only partially complete work that they’d paid him to do. Some of the alleged victims told police that Parrish never returned to their homes after taking their money.

Parrish fled the Upper Peninsula in late 2011 after being questioned by authorities. The Michigan State Police Fugitive Team and U.S. Marshals assisted in his arrest in Pittsburgh.

Parrish has been extradited back to Michigan and has been arraigned in 94th District Court in Escanaba. He’s being held in the Delta County Jail on $15,000 bond. Additional fraud charges are pending against him in Menominee County and Iron County.