Three Sentenced for Staging a Wreck

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Kentucky
June 24, 2010

PIKEVILLE, KY—Three men were sentenced on Tuesday for agreeing to stage a wreck in Prestonsburg, Ky. so they could collect thousands of dollars from automobile insurance companies.

U.S. District Court Judge Amul Thapar sentenced 68-year-old Junior Little to 45 months plus three years supervised release, 58-year-old Dannie Lee Bentley to 24 months plus three years supervised release, and 39-year-old James Clarence Hall to 21 months and three years supervised release for their respective roles in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

According to court documents, in 2006, the defendants staged the wreck and then used U.S. Mail to file false claims regarding the nature of the collision, their injuries, and the property damage. The defendants collected more than $80,000 total from two separate insurance companies.

There were nine defendants involved in the conspiracy and some have already been sentenced. Robin Shumacher received 15 months plus supervised release; Luther Johnson was sentenced to 30 months plus supervised release. Troy Fields and Burnett Little will be sentenced on August 11, 2010. Another co-defendant, Green Berry Newman, died in January of this year.

Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Elizabeth Fries, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and Kentucky Department of Insurance jointly made the announcement after the sentencing.

The investigation was conducted jointly by the FBI, National Insurance Crime Bureau, and Kentucky Department of Insurance, Fraud Investigation Division. The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Christy Love.