Former Kentucky car lot employee guilty in scam to roll back odometers, up car prices
A former employee of a Kentucky used-car dealership admitted helping in a scheme to roll back mileage readings on vehicles so buyers would pay more.
Donnie Wilson pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Bowling Green to charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and odometer tampering.
Wilson worked for Randy Huff at South Side Auto Sales in Bowling Green during a time when Huff “devised a scheme” to fraudulently increase the value of vehicles by lowering the odometer readings, according to the court record.
Huff had mechanics remove odometers from cars, trucks and SUVs and install replacement devices with lower mileage readings, according to Wilson’s plea agreement.
Huff and others working at his direction, including Wilson, altered titles to show the lower, false mileage readings, the plea agreement said.
That would have increased the potential sales prices of vehicles by thousand of dollars in some cases.
In one example cited in the indictment, the mileage on a 2010 Nissan Xterra SE was cut from 211,184 to 71,835.
If an owner in Lexington wanted to sell that model SUV privately, it would be worth $3,783 more at the lower mileage if it was in good condition, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Wilson took part in the scheme between June 2018 and January 2023, his plea agreement said.
Huff, Wilson and others sold vehicles with fraudulent odometer readings at the Bowling Green lot and at Huff’s Auto Sales in Beaver Dam.
Wilson’s plea listed 22 vehicles involved in the scheme.
The charges against Wilson have a combined maximum sentence of 35 years in prison, though his sentence will likely be less under advisory guidelines. He is scheduled to be sentenced in March.
Huff has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial in January.
