January 9, 2014 at 11:50 a.m.
Henricks sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison
Henricks sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison
By River News Staff-
A former Rhinelander businessman convicted of using the U.S. mail to defraud several insurance companies will spend the next 10 years in prison.
According to online federal court records, John E. Henricks III, former owner of Custom Collision body repair shop as well as area car towing businesses, was sentenced Thursday to 10 years and one month in federal prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution.
As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Henricks, 43, entered a guilty plea in August to a single count of mail fraud.
The plea deal resolved all of the federal charges, three counts of mail fraud and one count of identity theft, filed against Henricks in June after a search warrant was executed at his business.
As part of the plea deal, Oneida County District Attorney Mike Schiek dismissed four felony charges related to insurance fraud and identity theft he had filed against Henricks in Oneida County Circuit Court.
At sentencing, Judge Barbara Crabb found Henricks criminally responsible for using Custom Collision to defraud 19 auto insurance companies out of more than $1.3 million by staging accidents and creating false work invoices, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Wisconsin said in a press release.
Noting Henricks' continuing, deceptive attempts to thwart the government's efforts to identify assets to be liquidated for restitution, Judge Crabb stated that Henricks could not be trusted "to tell the time of day" and refused him the typical reduction in sentence for acceptance of responsibility, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
"Henricks coerced Custom Collision employees to participate in a six-year fraudulent scheme involving 46 instances of fraud," said John Vaudreuil, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. "Thanks to the exhaustive work of the Oneida County Sheriff's Department and the FBI, Henricks will spend the next decade in custody while my office continues to pursue (his) assets to repay the victims of his fraudulent scheme. This case highlights the effective results that are achieved when local and federal law enforcement work as a team."
Henricks must begin serving his sentence no later than March 11.
The body repair business is now under new ownership.
Comments:
You must login to comment.