A former salesman at a Stellantis dealership in Florissant, Missouri, was sentenced in August to a year and a day in prison after admitting to helping a fraudster buy and finance vehicles using someone else’s personal information.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk of the Eastern District of Missouri also ordered on Aug. 8 that Marty Cancila’s former Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram employee, Lavell Caradine, 35, to pay $89,263 in restitution and spend five years on supervised release. While on supervised release, he is required to obtain approval from a probation officer before engaging in any work or volunteer work that would allow him to access other people’s information.
“Since losing his previous job because of this violation, Defendant has been able to find a new position and continue working as a car salesman,” a defense sentencing memorandum stated. “His current employer is aware of the violation and has taken steps to prevent Defendant from accessing any customer’s personally identifiable information.”
Caradine pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud; one count of aggravated identity theft was dismissed under the plea deal he and the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached in February.
According to the plea agreement, Caradine sold three vehicles from June 24, 2019, to Aug. 23, 2019, to accomplice Naquan Powers, 28, at the Marty Cancila store.
Powers used the personal information of two victims “with matching fraudulent Social Security cards and driver’s licenses” to obtain auto loans, according to the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Caradine and Powers have not yet responded to emailed requests for comment. Marty Cancila’s owner, Tony Cancila, has not yet responded to messages seeking comment.
“At the time of the purchases, the Defendant knew [Powers] was using personally identifiable information of other individuals,” the plea agreement stated. “Prior to the purchases, [Powers] texted the defendant the names and personally identifiable information of the other individuals, and the defendant confirmed that [Powers] would be able to use this information for purchases.”
The government also alleged that Powers passed other names and information to Caradine, who told him “these names and [personally identifiable information] would be unusable for loan applications; for example, Defendant told Powers that one person had died and another person had had his credit frozen.”
One purchase involved Powers buying a Chevrolet Tahoe and getting a $42,086 Ally Financial loan using the victim’s name and Social Security number, according to the plea agreement. Powers also with Caradine’s help bought a BMW 4 Series and financed it with a $29,079 loan from Arsenal Credit Union using the victim’s name and Social Security number again, the plea agreement said. Powers attempted the third car deal on Aug. 13, 2019, but was arrested — even though Caradine had “texted [Powers] to let him know that the police were present and [Powers] maybe you want to leave.”
Caradine was ordered to pay those respective amounts to Ally and Arsenal in restitution and an additional $18,090 in restitution to Fifth Third Bank.
According to Powers’ plea agreement, Caradine helped him purchase a Chevrolet Impala from the dealership in June 2019 using an $18,090 loan from Fifth Third Bank.
Prosecutors had asked for a 13-month sentence for Caradine and that he be banned from employment that would allow him to have access to personal information during his supervised release. Caradine had requested a one-day sentence with credit for time served and then supervised release that would incorporate “some period of home confinement.”
Caradine said in a court filing that there was no evidence of any misconduct during the 10 years he spent as a salesman before his crimes in the summer of 2019, and the defense presented the court with letters from relatives and friends speaking about his character.
“He has expressed to me on numerous occasions that he regrets his actions,” Lorenzo Tutt, CEO of Tutt Management Solutions and a four-time buyer of Caradine’s cars, wrote to the court. “In no way do these actions define Lavell as a person. He is a great man, a great father, a great friend, and if given another chance, I am certain he will not make the same decisions.”
In March 2023, Powers agreed to plead guilty to four counts of bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, in a deal that also saw the prosecution drop three counts of misuse of a Social Security number.
In addition to his collaboration with Caradine, Powers also admitted to engaging in multiple fraudulent auto deals or attempted auto deals with four buyers in 2020, for a total loss of $244,374. These transactions occurred at multiple dealerships in the St. Louis area and southern Illinois.
“These individuals made these fraudulent purchases using the names and Social Security numbers of other victims and falsified identification documents at the defendant’s direction,” the plea agreement stated.
He also tried to work with another person “believed to be homeless” to try to purchase a vehicle from Travers GMT Auto North in Florissant using the victim’s name and Social Security number, but that purchase “was denied when the loan application was flagged as possibly fraudulent,” according to the plea agreement.
Powers was sentenced in August 2023 to nine years and three months in prison and ordered to pay $266,467.90 in restitution. However, he filed a petition with the court to be resentenced and receive a new attorney, arguing that as a first-time, nonviolent offender, he should not have received a nine-year sentence, and his attorney “never spoke up at my sentencing to get me a reduction.”