United States Attorney
McGregor W. Scott announced today that Billy D. Southerland,
63, of Anderson, California, was convicted today of two
felony counts of mail fraud and one felony count of wire
fraud. The guilty verdict was returned by a federal court
jury in Sacramento after a three week trial before United
States District Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr.
According to Assistant
United States Attorney Matthew Stegman, who prosecuted the
case, the evidence at trial showed that from at least March
of 2002, through January of 2004, Southerland advertised
his auto moving
business Southerland Auto on the Internet, using website
names such as MovingMyCar.com and many others, to people
who needed to have their cars transported from one city
to another.
Customers would send money
to the defendant believing that their vehicles would be
picked up for a specified price within 7 to 10 days. Southerland
would fail to perform within the stated days, and would
engage in "bait and switch" tactics, by offering below market
prices to lure potential customers to his business. After
customers complained that their cars had not been moved,
Southerland and his employees would tell the customers to
pay more money to "upgrade" for express pickup priority
service.
When customers attempted
to cancel with Southerland, he would refuse to refund some
or all of the customer's money, claiming it to be a "non-refundable
deposit."
Southerland also engaged
in tactics designed to prevent dissatisfied customers from
complaining to the Better Business Bureau by threatening
to charge an additional $200 above the "non-refundable $200
deposit" to customers who filed complaints with the Better
Business Bureau. |
