Pinson sentenced to six years in fraud, laundering case

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

CHARLESTON, W.VA. — Two men, including one who operated Big Blue Motor Sales in Lawrence County, were sentenced Thursday to prison for their roles in a $4.3 million fraud and money laundering scheme in Charleston, W.Va., according to a release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of West Virginia.

James Pinson, 46, of Wayne County, was sentenced to six years in federal prison. A federal jury convicted Pinson in December 2021 of three counts of wire fraud, six counts of mail fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and two counts of conspiring to commit money laundering.

Pinson was the owner of Big Blue Motor Sales. Evidence at trial revealed that to carry out his scheme, Pinson bought Toyota trucks at wholesale prices at auction, obtained hundreds of copies of Kentucky and West Virginia residents’ driver’s licenses, fraudulently titled the trucks in the name of those residents, and fraudulently induced Toyota to repurchase the trucks at 150 percent of their retail value, the release said.

Toyota issued 350 checks in the names of individual false owners between 2013 and 2015. Pinson forged signatures on all 350 checks and deposited them into his bank account, the release said. Pinson then used the money from this fraud scheme to buy more Toyota trucks at wholesale to run through the scheme. He also paid cash bribes to Frank Russo and Stanley Clark, the release said.

Clark was sentenced earlier this week to one year and three months in prison, the release said. Pinson further used the criminally-derived money from the fraud scheme to purchase a beach house in Pawley’s Island, S.C.

Frank Russo, 69, of North Carolina, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for wire fraud. Russo pleaded guilty to the charge in July 2020.

Russo was employed as service manager by a Toyota dealership in Kawawha County, W.Va. and he admitted that he participated in the fraud scheme by ensuring the vehicles brought to the Toyota dealership qualified for the extended warranty extension program, the release said.

Russo admitted that he sent false ownership information to Toyota by electronic wire in furtherance of the scheme and that he received bribes or kickbacks from Big Blue Motor Sales for his participation in the scheme, the release said.

Both men will also be required to pay restitution of up to $4.3 million to Toyota, the release also said.

United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the West Virginia State Police and the West Virginia Office of the Insurance Commissioner. United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentences. Assistant United States Attorneys Steve Loew and Andrew Tessman handled the prosecution.