A former Oklahoma dealership sales associate pleaded guilty Tuesday after being charged with defrauding the dealership for more than $1 million.
William Ray Turner, 31, worked for Patriot Chevrolet in Bartlesville from May 2019 to February 2021, court files said. In October, Turner was charged with 27 counts of wire fraud. He pleaded guilty to one count under a plea agreement.
Turner used stolen identities to take out loans and buy vehicles, on which he would make a commission, his indictment said.
In his plea agreement, he said that on Sept. 14, 2020, he knowingly used another person’s identity to take out a loan to buy a 2019 Kia Sorento for $32,917 from Patriot Chevrolet.
After receiving a commission on the sale, Turner sold the vehicle to an acquaintance.
Turner admitted to acting with the intent to defraud the dealership, the plea agreement said.
“William Turner exploited his position when he stole an identity and used it to submit a false loan application for the purchase of a vehicle. He then illegally profited from the crime by receiving a commission and selling the SUV to a personal acquaintance,” Clint Johnson, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma, said in a press release. “This U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to fully prosecuting white collar criminals, like Turner, who defraud employers and the banking system.”
All remaining counts against Turner will be dismissed, the prosecutor said.
Patriot Chevrolet declined to comment.
