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SALT LAKE CITY — Two South Salt Lake men were ordered Thursday to pay back everything they earned from a car flipping scheme involving faking odometer readings and Carfax reports.
Austin Weilacher, 22, and Porter Hamblin, 20, were sentenced in the plot that left families with cars they did not want and could not rely on, according to U.S. District Judge David Barlow.
Both men were sentenced to a year of probation. Wilacher was ordered to pay nearly $64,000 in restitution, and Hamblin was ordered to pay nearly $62,000 in restitution.
Weilacher's attorney, Ben Hamilton, asked the court for leniency, saying the charges the man pleaded guilty to in June — three counts of making false odometer statements — are "going to be haunting him for the rest of his life."
Weilacher and Hamblin reduced the real odometer readings of the six cars they sold by between 70,000 and 98,000 miles, charging documents say. Three counts of the same charge were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
The two men bought older model cars online to "clean them up, either break, disable or cover the odometers, gin up fake Carfax reports, and then sell them to unsuspecting Utahs," court documents say. "Once the victims would realize they had been swindled, they would try to contact the defendants, who would be unreachable."
Weilacher and Hamblin bought a McLaren sports car with the money they made but crashed it soon after. They were ordered to use the $150,000 in insurance money to reimburse the victims. Barlow said it was the first time he's ever seen victims fully compensated.
"I stand before you with deep regret," Weilacher told the court, pausing and apologizing at times due to nerves. "These lessons I have learned have been very valuable and have changed my life greatly."
He said he was "blinded" to the impacts his actions had on the more than 10 victims involved, adding that reading the victim impact statements "really broke my heart."
"We urge the public to exercise caution. If a deal seems too good to be true, it likely is," said Unified Police Chief Jason Mazuran in a statement. "Always verify the vehicle identification number (VIN) and run your own vehicle report before purchasing a vehicle to avoid falling victim to similar schemes."
