Friday, July 16, 2010
Ex-Botetourt restaurant owner branded a con artist and sentenced to 33 months
This article corrects the amount of restitution and clarifies that Botetourt County arson and embezzlement charges are still pending.
Eric Wooten, who ran the short-lived Galloway's Blueberry
Hill restaurant near the Botetourt Athletic Center, was sentenced to 33 months
in prison today by a federal judge who repeatedly called him a
con-artist.
Wooten, 34, pleaded guilty in April to one count of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to influence a financial institution. Back in U.S. District Court in Roanoke for sentencing, he argued through his attorney that he should not have to repay $455,000 an insurance company paid him to settle an injury claim.
Randy Cargill of the federal public defender's office said that since Liberty Mutual had not submitted a sworn statement detailing its loss, or sent anyone to testify, the insurance company should file a lawsuit against Wooten for the money.
As part of his dealings with the insurance company, Wooten filed a falsified tax statement to show the supposed income the injury cost him.
Wooten also had been accused of falsifying applications for loans for vehicles, including a Mini Cooper that investigators said he later set on fire and then turned in an insurance claim. Arson and embezzlement charges against Wooten are scheduled for trial in Botetourt County Circuit Court in September.
U.S. District Judge James Turk said Wooten's pattern of deceptive behavior left him with little confidence that Wooten would not attempt another swindle when an opportunity came along.
"I hope I'm wrong," the judge said.
But Turk said he could not go along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott's recommendation -- part of Wooten's plea agreement -- to set a sentence at the lower end of the range suggested by federal sentencing guidelines. Turk said that though he rarely sentenced at the top of the guidelines, he would do so in this case because he thought Wooten actually deserved more than the 27 to 33 months the guidelines called for.
Turk imposed a 33-month prison sentence to be followed by five years of supervision by the federal probation office. He ordered about $18,500 restitution to various banks and a car dealer, but not to Liberty Mutual, which Turk said would have to seek reimbursement separately. Defense and prosecution agreed that Wooten has no significant resources and is unlikely to be able to repay anyone fully.
Turk allowed Wooten to return to Cocoa, Fla., where he, his wife and their two children have been living with relatives, to await notice from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons about where to report for incarceration.
Wooten, 34, pleaded guilty in April to one count of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to influence a financial institution. Back in U.S. District Court in Roanoke for sentencing, he argued through his attorney that he should not have to repay $455,000 an insurance company paid him to settle an injury claim.
Randy Cargill of the federal public defender's office said that since Liberty Mutual had not submitted a sworn statement detailing its loss, or sent anyone to testify, the insurance company should file a lawsuit against Wooten for the money.
As part of his dealings with the insurance company, Wooten filed a falsified tax statement to show the supposed income the injury cost him.
Wooten also had been accused of falsifying applications for loans for vehicles, including a Mini Cooper that investigators said he later set on fire and then turned in an insurance claim. Arson and embezzlement charges against Wooten are scheduled for trial in Botetourt County Circuit Court in September.
U.S. District Judge James Turk said Wooten's pattern of deceptive behavior left him with little confidence that Wooten would not attempt another swindle when an opportunity came along.
"I hope I'm wrong," the judge said.
But Turk said he could not go along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott's recommendation -- part of Wooten's plea agreement -- to set a sentence at the lower end of the range suggested by federal sentencing guidelines. Turk said that though he rarely sentenced at the top of the guidelines, he would do so in this case because he thought Wooten actually deserved more than the 27 to 33 months the guidelines called for.
Turk imposed a 33-month prison sentence to be followed by five years of supervision by the federal probation office. He ordered about $18,500 restitution to various banks and a car dealer, but not to Liberty Mutual, which Turk said would have to seek reimbursement separately. Defense and prosecution agreed that Wooten has no significant resources and is unlikely to be able to repay anyone fully.
Turk allowed Wooten to return to Cocoa, Fla., where he, his wife and their two children have been living with relatives, to await notice from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons about where to report for incarceration.
