A Texas man was sentenced to 60 years in prison for a scheme he ran out of his classic car restoration shop. In December, the previous owner of Classic American Street Rods in the San Leon-Bacliff area was convicted of felony theft totaling more than $300,000.
Richard Thomas Finley advertised to his victims that he could conduct “engine swaps” on their classic cars. He pledged to upgrade engines with more modern, less expensive-to-maintain-and-repair models, according to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.
Following complaints, investigators from the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and the Galveston County Auto Crimes Task Force discovered that he had lied. Instead, they discovered that he stole more than $498,000 from 72 victims between 2018 and 2023. The investigation also recovered over 20 classic vehicles and restored them to their rightful owners.
The classic car restoration shop owner would often delay his work, with many victims never getting what they paid for
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During his trial, the District Attorney’s Office explained, “several victims described how Finley demanded a large amount of money from them upfront to begin work on their classic car.” The D.A. added that it “then several months and years would go by with no updates from Finley on when the engine swap would be completed.”
“When confronted by his victims, Finley would lie about the status of their engine swap,” the D.A. continued. “Evidence showed that, meanwhile, Finley was also stealing his victims’ car parts and engine parts from their classic automobiles and then would sell those stolen parts to unsuspecting buyers. All of the victims testified that Mr. Finley never performed the ‘engine swap’ that was promised.”
The case is another cautionary tale when it comes to dealing with classic car restoration shops
Finley’s case is dissimilar to another recent case, just on a far greater scale. In November, a New York judge sentenced the owner of a classic car restoration firm to two years in prison.
In that case, a classic car restoration shop owner was convicted of misrepresenting his work to customers. He also lied about acquisitions that he claimed to have completed in order to acquire money from these consumers.
The Department of Justice noted that clients frequently relied on his promises about what he was doing. They did not inspect the work in person before paying him. He also took advantage of the fact that classic car restorations sometimes take years to complete.
Interestingly, in that case, the scammer scammed victims out of more than $2.5 million. However, he received barely a quarter of the sentence imposed in Texas for a considerably lower financial amount. However, in the New York case, there were just three victims, whereas in Texas, there were 24 times that many.