A Manchester man has pleaded no contest to multiple charges that he took money from aspiring authors to publish their books, but didn’t do so.
Prosecutors say 63-year-old Peter Campbell-Copp cheated people out of more than $200,000 for the books. Many of the victims were elderly, and much of the money was taken from retirement funds.
The 16 felony charges are for false pretenses in excess of $900. A trial was scheduled to start in Bennington on Wednesday, but Campbell-Copp agreed Monday not to contest most of the charges.
A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, instead.