A former Norman, Oklahoma car dealership owner has been sentenced to nearly 11 years in federal prison after being convicted of fraud and other charges.
The U.S. District Attorney's Office in Western District of Oklahoma recently announced that 51-year old Bobby Chris Mayes of Norman received a 130 month federal prison sentence on charges that included wire fraud, conspiracy, issuing forged securities, aggravated identity theft, and obstruction of justice. Additionally, U. S. Attorney Robert J. Troester says the defendant has paid more than $1,100,000 in restitution and has also been ordered to forfeit more than $1 million.
The case against Mayes involved defrauding auto lenders as well as tampering with the case following his 2021 jury trial and his conviction. According to the Department of Justice press release, during the trial jurors heard testimony that the "Big Red Dealerships used ads to target potential customers with poor credit, and then fraudulently induced lenders to approve loans for such customers by documenting that the customers provided cash down payments and/or trade-in vehicles when that was untrue."
There are two co-defendants in the case, Charles Gooch, 65 of Moore, and Courtney Wells, 38 of Norman, who will be sentenced in the coming weeks.
Click here to read the full press release.
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