Washington Man Sentenced in Idaho Federal Court for Distributing Meth

COEUR D’ALENE—Severiano V. Valle, 49, of Royal City, Washington, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Coeur d’Alene to 87 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Valle to serve four years of supervised release and pay a $5,000 fine. He pleaded guilty on January 3, 2012.

According to the plea agreement, Valle was stopped by the Kootenai County Interdiction Team on February 8, 2011. A dog specially trained to detect the presence of drugs alerted law enforcement to 449 grams of methamphetamine in the trunk of Valle’s vehicle. Valle admitted that he was taking the methamphetamine to another person.

The case was investigated by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office and the North Idaho Violent Crime Task Force (NIVCTF). NIVCTF members include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Idaho State Police, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office, Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, Coeur d’Alene Police Department, Post Falls Police Department, and the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police Department. The NIVCTF investigates a myriad of violent crimes, including armed robbery, kidnapping, felonious assault, and drug trafficking.

D&R Car Lot Owners and Manager Indicted

Indictment Alleges a Conspiracy to Defraud KeyBank

PORTLAND, OR—The former owners and manager of D&R Auto Sales, D&R Motors, and D&R Ford/Mercury appeared in federal court this week to face conspiracy charges. The IRS-Criminal Investigations Division, the FBI, and the Post Falls (Idaho) Police Department arrested Roger Spangenberg, 49, of Post Falls, Idaho, after a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Spangenberg; his brother, David Spangenberg, 52, of Spokane WA; and Steven Johnson, 63, of Aberdeen, WA, with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The Spangenberg brothers owned the now closed D&R automobile dealerships, formerly located in Hermiston and Enterprise, Oregon, and Steven Johnson served as a manager.

The indictment alleges that from January 2007 through August 2008, the Spangenbergs and Johnson conspired to defraud KeyBank in connection with a Floorplan Line of Credit and Security Agreement, known in the automobile industry as a “flooring loan.” KeyBank extended a line of credit to the D&R dealerships to purchase new inventory, but the Spangenbergs and Johnson failed to repay KeyBank after they sold the inventory. The indictment alleges that the Spangenbergs and Johnson deceived KeyBank into believing the dealerships had not yet sold inventory, including asking customers to return recently purchased automobiles to the dealerships to receive a free service on the day of an audit, and misrepresenting to KeyBank that automobiles not present on the lot were being used as rental cars. The indictment also alleges that the defendants submitted false Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) to KeyBank to receive funding for inventory the dealerships never purchased, and that defendants “double floored” vehicles with more than one financial institution. KeyBank suffered a loss of more than $6 million as a result of the alleged fraud.

All defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges. Trial is set for March 27, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon.

“These defendants left a multi-million-dollar trail of destruction in eastern Oregon,” stated U.S. Attorney S. Amanda Marshall. “Financial fraud results in significant harm both to our financial institutions and our communities, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement and financial institution partners to pursue and prosecute financial fraud aggressively in this district.”

Conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

A criminal indictment is only an allegation and not evidence of guilt. Each of these defendants is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The charges stem from an investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacie Beckerman.