A man who facilitated a scam that cost two Colorado Springs residents $22,500 had his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeals this week because he had no connection to the state of Colorado when he was allegedly committing the crime.

Steven Michael Nevelik had a lawn mowing business in his home state of Texas, using its checking account to allegedly launder money in exchange for a reward. Nevelik reportedly felt the arrangement was illegal, but nonetheless agreed to transfer wire payments. He used his Texas account to withdraw money and initiated wire transfers to other bank accounts – though none in Colorado.

The alleged scheme came to light after two Colorado Springs residents hired a real estate agent in Mexico to help them purchase a retirement home. The agent told the couple to deposit a $22,500 down payment through a wire transfer into the agent’s personal checking account. However, the couple soon received a second email, apparently from the agent, with instructions to wire the money to an American bank. The victims complied.

The parties soon discovered, however, that someone had hacked the agent’s email, and the agent never received the money. The couple also never recovered their money as a result of the scam.

Law enforcement in Colorado eventually discovered Nevelik’s checking account, opened shortly before the victims’ wire transfer, with a transaction of $22,500 from the victims’ account. Texas authorities apprehended Nevelik, and he subsequently told an investigator in Colorado that he was promised millions of dollars and a trip to London if he served as a “money mule,” accepting funds into his bank account and transferring it.

Investigators were unable to contact the man who allegedly made such a promise to Nevelik.

A jury in El Paso County convicted Nevelik of money laundering, with a sentence of two years’ probation and a $24,300 restitution payment.

On Thursday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeals reversed Nevelik’s conviction. The judges reasoned that Colorado law only allows for prosecutions of crimes committed “wholly or partly within the state,” and all of the elements of a money laundering offense – initiating, concluding or participating in a financial transaction – took place outside of Colorado.

“The undisputed evidence shows that Nevelik committed all money movements in the State of Texas,” wrote Judge Rebecca R. Freyre in the panel’s opinion. “He never traveled to, emailed, telephoned, or had any other contact with anyone in Colorado, nor did he commit any of the acts in furtherance of a money laundering offense in Colorado. Further, the victims did not know Nevelik, nor did he know them.”

The Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which originally prosecuted the case, did not have an immediate comment on the ruling.

The case is People v. Nevelik.