Bartlett man goes to prison in fraud case

GREENBELT, Md. — Thirty-four-year-old Flinton Newton of Bartlett, Tenn., was sentenced to prison on March 27 in federal court in Greenbelt, Md.

He earned a three and one-half-year term for trying to buy luxury vehicles with stolen identities.

According to his plea agreement, Newton and others stole identifying information, created false documents, and tried to buy expensive vehicles. using the victims’ good credit ratings.

Prosecutors say that he and others tried to defraud BMW of Silver Spring, Capitol Cadillac of Greenbelt, and other car-related entities in Maryland and Virginia. The group worked to obtain the identity information of credit-worthy individuals, create false documents in their names, and then pose as these people at dealerships in order to apply for vehicle financing between May and July 2012.

One attempted purchase involved an $80,000 credit application to buy a Cadillac Escalade.

Another was a $120,000 credit application to purchase two Mercedes-Benzes.

Prosecutors say the Silver Spring dealership noticed that the victim’s identifying information had been used at the first dealership and called police.

The first six counts of the original indictment against Newton were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Newton pleaded guilty to counts one and seven of the superseding indictment, which charged him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.