A Texas man received a 60-year prison sentence for a scheme he ran out of his classic car restoration shop. The former owner of Classic American Street Rods in the San Leon-Bacliff area was found guilty of felony theft greater than $300,000 in December.

Richard Thomas Finley advertised to his victims that he would perform “engine swaps” on their classic automobiles. He promised to upgrade engines with more modern, less expensive-to-maintain and repair models, according to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.

After complaints, Galveston County Sheriff’s Office investigators and the Galveston County Auto Crimes Task Force found that he had lied. Instead, they learned that he stole more than $498,000 from seventy-two victims between 2018 to 2023. The investigation also recovered over 20 classic vehicles and returned them to their rightful owners.

The classic car restoration shop owner would often delay his work, with many victims never getting what they paid for

During his trial, the District Attorney’s Office explained, “several victims described how Finley demanded a large amount of money from them upfront to begin work on their classic car.” The D.A. added that it “then several months and years would go by with no updates from Finley on when the engine swap would be completed.”

“When confronted by his victims, Finley would lie about the status of their engine swap,” the D.A. continued. “Evidence showed that, meanwhile, Finley was also stealing his victims’ car parts and engine parts from their classic automobiles and then would sell those stolen parts to unsuspecting buyers. All of the victims testified that Mr. Finley never performed the ‘engine swap’ that was promised.”

The case is another cautionary tale when it comes to dealing with classic car restoration shops

Finley’s case is not dissimilar to another recent case, just on a much larger scale. In November, a judge sentenced a New York classic car restoration shop owner to two years in prison.

In that case, a classic car restoration shop owner was found guilty of misrepresenting his work to customers. He also lied about acquisitions he claimed to have completed to obtain money from these customers.”

The Department of Justice warned that customers often relied on his assurances about what he was doing. They did not actually see the work in person before paying him. He also used the fact that classic car restoration can often take years to complete to his advantage.

Interestingly, in that case, the scammer defrauded victims of over $2.5 million. However, he received only a fraction of the sentence handed down in Texas for a much smaller dollar amount. Then again, in the New York case, there were only three victims, while in Texas, there were 24 times that number.