Grand Jury Indicts 2 Erie County Men in Scheme to Defraud Auto Loan Providers

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Pennsylvania
13 September 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ERIE, Pa. – Two residents of Erie County, Pennsylvania, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Erie on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

The eleven-count indictment named Adam Brayton Coover, 34, of Erie, Pennsylvania and Brian Alex Vergotz, 49, of Erie, Pennsylvania, as defendants.

According to the indictment presented to the court, from in and around May 2015, to in and around March 2016, the defendants Coover and Vergotz engaged in a scheme to defraud auto loan providers by using straw purchasers to buy cars from Vergotz knowing that the vehicles would not actually be in the possession of the straw purchasers. Vergotz and Coover also falsified the loan applications to make the straw purchasers appear more credit worthy.

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of 40 years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both for each defendant. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendants.

Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Erie Police Department conducted the investigation leading to the indictment in this case.

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.