A Hamilton man has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for his latest string of fraud convictions of concert and sporting event online ticket scams, offences he committed while on probation for more than 50 prior charges.

With previous time served, Jacob Miranda, 23, has 93 days left to serve, following his arrest in May. He was given credit of 1.5 to days for each of the 298 days he has already spent behind bars.

"Sooner or later he's going to end up in the pen … if he keeps this thing up," said Justice Timothy Culver, in accepting the joint submission from the Crown and defence on the nine new charges.

Jail, explained Hamilton Police major fraud unit Det. Duncan McCulloch, is the only way to protect the public.

"The conditions put on him, if he is not in custody, don't protect the public, and the only method of protecting the public, in Jacob's case, is to have him incarcerated," said McCulloch, who was at Miranda's sentencing Monday. "Locking him up is the only thing that seems to stop the crime wave."

Miranda sat through Monday's proceedings without comment, wearing washed jeans, a denim shirt and square thick-rimmed glasses.

He has been in custody since May 2014, and was ordered to pay restitution to nine people, totally $9,015, in addition to his sentence.

That total is in addition to a previous sum of more than $50,000 in restitution already ordered by the court, for monies he received for concerts and sporting event tickets he sold online through Kijiji, Facebook and Blackberry Messenger. Miranda never had the tickets, and they were never delivered to potential buyers.

The court heard Monday Miranda had a gambling addiction and was exposed at an early age to horse betting and poker houses. The money defrauded was allegedly used to pay off Miranda's gambling debts. Miranda has been barred from casinos and other gambling, including online, as part of his three-year probation.

McCulloch said Miranda used dozens of fake emails, and had the money transferred to friends, and in some cases family members bank accounts.

In the latest string of frauds, Miranda was caught by investigators in Alberta who contacted Hamilton Police while crosschecking an address in Hamilton, traced by IP address, which led to Miranda.