Eugene Man Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

EUGENE, OR—Timothy Devon Huntley, Jr., 45, pled guilty today to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft as part of an insurance fraud scheme. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 24, 2011 before U.S. District Judge Michael R. Hogan.

The case arose from an investigation by the National Insurance Crime Bureau into multiple suspicious insurance claims associated with Huntley. The investigation was referred to the Financial Crimes Unit of the Eugene Police Department. It was ultimately determined that Huntley filed at least 30 fraudulent claims resulting in $196,854.20 in losses to at least 11 different insurance companies.

In pleading guilty, Huntley admitted that, among other things, he obtained insurance policies for recently acquired used vehicles and used fictitious names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security account numbers (SSANs), as well as names, addresses, dates of birth, and SSANs belonging to actual persons. Shortly after insuring a vehicle, he would claim to have damaged a parked car with the vehicle. The parked car would generally be another used vehicle recently acquired by him in some variation of his name or that of his wife. Posing as the owner of the damaged parked car, Huntley would make a claim on the recently issued insurance policy. He would then be mailed a check to settle the claim.

Public records show that Huntley has over 20 prior convictions, including at least 10 prior felony convictions for a variety of offenses: forgery in the first degree, robbery in the third degree, theft in the first degree, possession of a prohibited firearm, hindering prosecution, and driving while suspended/revoked. He is currently in federal custody pending sentencing.

The maximum statutory penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, followed by a three-year term of supervised release. The statutory penalty for aggravated identity theft is a 24-month term of prison, consecutive to any other sentence, and a $250,000 fine, followed by a one-year term of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the Eugene Police Department with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Sean B. Hoar.