A former candidate for the state Legislature admitted Monday in U.S. District Court that he swindled more than $214,000 from customers who bought computers, plasma televisions and diet pills from his online businesses but never received the merchandise.

Travis J. Sneed, 21, of Spokane, pleaded guilty to 14 federal counts of wire fraud and likely faces 30 months in prison when he’s sentenced early next year.

Sneed, working from Spokane and Cheney, operated three Internet sites, EXNC.com, E-Xpress-Notebooks.com and Exporters.com.

Customers who reported losing money to Sneed lived in Indiana, Oregon, California, Michigan, New Hampshire, Illinois, Texas and Ontario, Canada, court documents say.

Sneed’s Cheney-based Internet operation was housed in offices below Eclectic Café, which he opened in June, apparently with profits from his fraud scheme, federal investigators said.

Sneed entered his pleas before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Frem Nielsen, one day before federal prosecutors were going to seek additional charges against the businessman, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Aine Ahmed.

Sneed was arrested by the FBI on July 20 on an eight-count indictment, just weeks after he announced he wanted to be a Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives from Spokane’s 3rd District. He did not file for the office and his name was not on the primary ballot.

On Monday, he pleaded guilty to all 14 counts contained in a third indictment returned Sept. 28 in Spokane by a federal grand jury that monitored the FBI’s investigation of the case.

“There are more victims out there, probably some we haven’t identified,” the federal prosecutor said after Sneed’s court appearance.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed not to seek additional charges against Sneed, and possibly an even harsher sentence, because “a key part of this plea agreement is restitution,” Ahmed told the court.

Before he is sentenced next year, Sneed has agreed to pay $50,000 to a court-administered restitution fund that will be used to partially repay his victims, the prosecutor said.

Investigators have identified 14 victims who lost a total of $214,700 to Sneed. A judgment in that amount will be rendered against him and he will agree to make that amount of restitution as part of the plea bargain, Ahmed said.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Sneed faces a sentencing range of 27 to 33 months in prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will recommend a midrange sentence of 30 months, Ahmed said.

The judge allowed the former Eastern Washington University student to remain free without bond, under court-imposed restrictions, until he is sentenced on Feb. 18.

Sneed’s court-appointed attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Kathleen Moran, asked the judge, at her client’s request, to keep his 30-page plea agreement sealed from public inspection.

“This is public knowledge,” Nielsen responded. “I see no reason to seal it.”

In admitting his guilt, Sneed gave no reason for his actions.

But in the written plea agreement, former business associate Reanna Howard is quoted as saying, “Sneed had a history of gambling and abusing alcohol.”

Howard has pleaded guilty to misprison (concealment) of a felony for her role in the scheme.

The FBI entered the investigation earlier this year after its Cyber Crimes Division and the Cheney Police Department received complaints from consumers who said they had forwarded funds to Sneed’s business and didn’t receive ordered items or refunds.