Car Dealer Sentenced For Money Laundering

Topics:  Jerry Robbins, Finish Line Auto Sales

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of New York
27 May 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jerry Robbins, 45, of Cheektowaga, NY, who was convicted following a jury trial of money laundering and failure to report cash transactions of $10,000 or more, was sentenced to 63 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel L. Violanti and Edward H. White, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that Robbins, owner of Finish Line Auto on Bailey Avenue in Buffalo, helped drug dealers launder proceeds of their illicit business by purchasing high end used cars. During these sales, the drug dealers would pay the defendant cash for cars ranging in price from $10,500 to $45,000. Robbins used the name of another person in sales and title paperwork to disguise the true purchaser and source of the money.

In addition, in an effort to conceal the amount of money received for the sale of the car, Robbins listed that only a small deposit was received from the third party nominee, when, in fact, the drug dealers had paid cash in full for the car. For each of these types of transactions, Robbins also failed to file the proper forms with the Internal Revenue Service indicating the receipt of over $10,000 cash for the sale of the car, as required by law.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Shantelle P. Kitchen, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Office the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, under the direction of Commissioner Barbara J. Fiala.