Missouri auto salesman gets 1-year sentence after admitting to helping fraudster

A former salesman at a Florissant, Mo., Stellantis dealership was sentenced in August to a year and a day in prison after admitting to helping a fraudster buy and finance vehicles using another person's personal information.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk of the Eastern District of Missouri also on Aug. 8 ordered former Marty Cancila Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram employee Lavell Caradine, 35, to pay $89,263 in restitution and spend a five-year period of supervised release. During the supervised release, he is required to get a probation officer's approval before engaging in any job or volunteerism that would allow access to other people's information.

"Since losing his prior job because of this offense, Defendant was able to find a new position and continue working as a car salesman," a sentencing memo from the defense stated. "His current employer is aware of the offense and has taken steps to preclude Defendant from accessing any customer's personal identifying information."

Caradine pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud; a 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 from June 24, 2019, to Aug. 23, 2019, sold three vehicles to co-conspirator Naquan Powers, 28, at the Marty Cancila store.

Powers used the personal information of two victims "with corresponding fraudulent Social Security cards and driver's licenses" to obtain auto loans, according to the filing.

Attorneys for Caradine and Powers have not yet responded to email requests for comment. Marty Cancila owner Tony Cancila has not yet responded to messages seeking comment.

"At the time of the purchases, Defendant knew [Powers] was using the personally identifiable information of other individuals," the plea agreement stated. "Prior to the purchases, [Powers] texted Defendant the names and personally identifiable information of the other individuals, and Defendant had confirmed that [Powers] would be able to use that information for the purchases."

The government also alleged Powers ran other names and information past Caradine, who told him "those names and [personally identifiable information] would be unusable for loan applications; for instance, Defendant told Powers that one person was deceased and that another person had their credit frozen."

One purchase involved Powers buying a Chevrolet Tahoe and obtaining an Ally Financial loan for $42,086 while using a victim's name and Social Security number, according to the plea deal. 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 — though Caradine had "texted [Powers] to warn him the police were present and [Powers] may want to leave."

Caradine was ordered to pay those respective amounts to Ally and Arsenal in restitution and another $18,090 in restitution to Fifth Third Bank.

According to Powers' plea deal, Caradine helped him buy a Chevrolet Impala at the dealership in June 2019 using a $18,090 loan from Fifth Third Bank.

The prosecution sought a 13-month sentence for Caradine and called for him to be banned from jobs allowing contact with personal information during his supervised release. Caradine had requested a one-day sentence with credit for time served and then a supervised release that incorporated "some period of home confinement."

Caradine in a court filing said no evidence existed of any misconduct during the 10 years he spent as a salesman prior to his crimes in the summer of 2019, and the defense gave the court letters from relatives and friends speaking to his character.

"He has expressed to me on several occasions that he regrets the act," Lorenzo Tutt, CEO of Tutt Management Solutions and a four-time car buyer from Caradine, wrote to the court. "By no means do those acts define Lavell as a person. He is a great man, great father, great friend, and if given another chance, I'm positive he won't make those same decisions."

Powers agreed in March 2023 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 participating in multiple fraudulent auto deals or attempted auto deals with four buyers in 2020 for a total loss of $244,374. Those 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 instruction of Defendant," the plea deal stated.

He also tried to work with another person "believed to be unhoused" to try and buy a vehicle from Travers GMT Auto North in Florissant using a victim's name and Social Security number, but that purchase "was denied when the loan application was flagged as possibly fraudulent," according to to the plea deal.

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 has petitioned the court to be resentenced and receive a new lawyer, arguing that as a first-time nonviolent offender he should not have received a nine-year sentence, and his lawyer "never spoke up at my sentencing to get me a reduction."