Springfield car dealer sentenced for odometer fraud

A Springfield used car dealer was sentenced this week for mileage fraud.

Ashley Bolton, owner of Springfield dealership Excel Auto Group, was sentenced Wednesday in Greene County Circuit Court to four years in the department of corrections, though the lock up will be suspended if he meets all other terms of the sentence.

He must serve 30 days of shock incarceration in Greene County jail, five years of supervised probation and never work as or for a licensed auto dealer again. He also must pay restitution to consumers, the amount of which will be determined during a March 10 hearing, according to a news release from the Missouri attorney general’s office.

“Ashley Bolton deceived consumers into spending hard-earned money on higher mileage cars for more than they were worth,” Attorney General Chris Koster said in the release. “Odometer fraud is serious crime. I am pleased he is permanently banned from selling cars to protect consumers from his fraudulent acts.”

Bolton pleaded guilty in September after being charged by Koster in 2013 with two felony counts of unlawful merchandising practices.

In the fraud scheme, Bolton misrepresented the actual mileage of vehicles offered for sale by Excel Auto Group in 2011 and 2012. One example referenced by Koster’s office was a car Bolton purchased with over 180,000 miles and sold saying it had only 99,000 miles. Another time, he bought a car with nearly 220,000 miles and sold it with an odometer reading of 119,000 miles, according to the release.

[[In-content Ad]]