on february 5, 2016, skupin was arrested for his alleged role with pay it forward, being charged with five counts of larceny by conversion and one count of racketeering. unrelated to these accusations, he was also charged with six counts of possession of child pornography, as such images, allegedly belonging to him, were discovered on his laptop while police were searching it during the ponzi scheme investigation. skupin's bond was set at us$350,000. on november 18, he was found guilty of four out of the six child pornography counts. a separate trial for his involvement with pay it forward took place november 21, during which he pled no contest to a single count of larceny by conversion, as part of a plea deal. he was sentenced to serve one to four years in prison for possession of child pornography, and four years' probation plus $31,800 in restitution for larceny. he was released on parole, on december 19, 2017, after serving a year in prison.