Willard Timothy Sutton, a 64-year-old man from Pitt County, North Carolina, has pled guilty to one count of mail fraud. Sutton admitted to running a Ponzi scheme that caused over 60 investors to lose more than $8 million. He now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Restitution payments to victims will also be required.
The court heard that between 2019 and 2023, Sutton operated the fraudulent scheme through Greenville Auto World, LLC (GAW), a "buy here pay here" (BHPH) car dealership in Greenville. BHPH dealerships allow customers with poor credit to finance vehicle purchases directly through the dealership at higher interest rates than traditional loans. From around 2012 to 2023, Sutton sold BHPH finance contracts to investors as part of an investment program associated with GAW.
Starting in approximately 2019, Sutton misled investors into believing their investments were secure and supported by sufficient loan repayments collected by GAW. However, GAW did not have the financial means to meet these obligations legitimately. The FBI estimates that between October 2018 and August 2023, GAW received over $60 million from investors while its actual income was far less.
To keep the business afloat and disguise its financial troubles, Sutton ran the BHPH program as a Ponzi scheme. He would sell legitimate loan contracts multiple times without investor knowledge and use fraudulent sales proceeds to pay off earlier investors. This involved forging customer signatures on fake contracts and sometimes providing false title documents.
In about 2022, facing increasing debts, Sutton solicited additional funds from some BHPH investors under false pretenses of financing vehicle inventory but used those funds instead to sustain the Ponzi scheme.
“Over the course of years... this defendant bilked his victims out of millions," said Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar. "Fraudsters should know that they will be held accountable for their crimes."
Robert M. DeWitt from the FBI noted that when faced with financial difficulties rather than admitting failure, Sutton chose deceitful methods at the expense of trusting investors.
Acting United States Attorney Daniel P. Bubar announced after Chief Judge Richard E. Myers II accepted the plea deal. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Charlotte Field Office conducted the investigation with Assistant United States Attorney Adam F. Hulbig prosecuting.
Court documents are available via PACER or through the U.S District Court for Eastern District North Carolina website under Case No: 4:24-CR-83-M.
