Albany man who tricked promoters into believing he could line up Red Hot Chili Peppers gets 2 years in prison

The Red Hot Chili Peppers perform as the final headliner at BottleRock 2016 in Napa, Calif. on Sunday, May 29, 2016. The Red Hot Chili Peppers perform as the final headliner at BottleRock 2016 in Napa, Calif. on Sunday, May 29, 2016. Photo: Michael Noble Jr., The Chronicle Photo: Michael Noble Jr., The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Albany man who tricked promoters into believing he could line up Red Hot Chili Peppers gets 2 years in prison 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Nearly seven years after he promised Eastern European concert promoters that he would send the Red Hot Chili Peppers their way, an Albany man has been sentenced to a two-year prison term for wire fraud.

The sentencing in U.S. District Court, which also calls for repayment of the $450,000 paid by the would-be promoters, follows the guilty plea in March by Quincy Krashna, 50, to charges filed in 2017.

“Defendant played fast and loose with the victims’ money, and had no reasonable basis to conclude that he was capable of negotiating a deal on their behalf,” U.S. Attorney Alex G. Tse and assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Green wrote in their sentencing memorandum to judge Jeffrey S. White. Even if Krashna “naively hoped or believed that he or others could forge a deal with the band, he lied to the victims to persuade them to part with their money.”

In the March plea agreement, Krashna described how he presented himself to the Eastern European promoters as “a person of substantial reputation in the entertainment business.” The promoters were interested in the Chili Peppers — a funk-rock group known for such albums as “Californication” — and Krashna said he could be the go-between for a 2012 tour of Croatia, Hungary and Romania.

The promoters then sent $450,000 as a security deposit to what supposedly was an escrow account but in fact was one of Krashnu’s bank accounts. When no tour materialized, and the promoters wanted their money back, Krashnu told the promoters he was suing the band to get their money bank — only to concede in the plea agreement that “I had no intent to file any lawsuit.”

The two-year sentence for wire fraud is on the low end of penalties for such offenses. Judge White did not grant a request by the attorneys for Krashnu that 12 months be spent in a residential facility.

John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron