MARSHALL — A former Tracy business owner pleaded guilty this week to two counts of theft by swindle charges, Lyon County District Court records said. Darin Lee Horner, 55, admitted that when he was the operator of Affordable Appliance Plus in Tracy, he took money from customers without intending to deliver the goods they paid for.

Horner instead used customers’ money for other things, including deposits to his personal account to make house payments. More than 50 individuals were victims in the case, and the total loss to victims was more than $200,000, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office said.

The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted Horner on a referral from Lyon County Attorney Abby Wikelius, a news release said. Minnesota state laws allow the Attorney General to appear in court on the request of a county attorney, in criminal cases the Attorney General deems proper.

“It’s hard to afford your life when thieves and scammers take your money for products they never actually deliver,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a news release. “Darin Lee Horner’s actions were unlawful and unacceptable, and I am pleased my office was able to hold him accountable for his crimes.”

Horner appeared in Lyon County District Court Tuesday for a settlement conference. In 2023, Horner was charged with racketeering, and six counts of theft by swindle.

A criminal complaint said that, between 2017 and 2019, Horner accepted payments for appliances that he did not deliver. Starting around October 2018, the Tracy Police Department received more than 40 complaints from people who said they paid Horner for goods that were misrepresented, or that they never received at all, the criminal complaint said. Thousands of dollars of customers’ payments were used for business expenses at Affordable Appliance, went into Horner’s personal checking account, or were used to pay for personal expenses like bills, vacations and a contract for deed for a property, the complaint said.

At Tuesday’s conference, Horner pleaded guilty to two counts of theft by swindle, as part of a plea agreement. Court documents said the plea agreement was contingent on Horner paying $60,000 in restitution before he was sentenced. The remaining charges against him would be dismissed at sentencing, court records said.

The court accepted Horner’s guilty pleas, and ordered a pre-sentencing investigation, court records said. A sentencing hearing will be held December 16.