Fraud Ringleader in Washington Sentenced, Ordered to Pay $7.1M in Restitution

A Washington man has been sentenced to a dozen years in prison and ordered to pay $7.1 million for leading a fraud scheme that involved staged collisions.

A U.S. District Judge sentenced William Oldham Mize to 144 months in federal prison in connection to a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme involving false and fabricated insurance claims. The judge also imposed three years of supervised release and $6.6 million in restitution to insurance companies and $436,399 in restitution to the IRS.

According to court documents, Mize was the ringleader of an insurance fraud scheme to intentionally cause automobile and boat collisions as well as staged home “accidents” to file fraudulent insurance claims and collect the proceeds.

According to court documents, the scheme took place between 2013 and 2018, involved numerous staged collisions in Washington and Nevada, and obtained more than $6 million, most of which was kept by Mize. The government seized and forfeited more than $2 million in assets – including numerous houses, cars, boats, and cash – from Mize and his co-conspirators and has returned that money to victims.

Mize originally appeared in federal court on his indictment on Jan. 9, 2019. Following his initial appearance, he was released pending trial. In July 2019, Mize fled from supervision and became a fugitive, living under a number of false identities.

Last year, U.S. Marshals apprehended Mize in Jacksonville, Florida. Mize was then located and arrested at a marina in central Florida and transported to Eastern Washington, where he has remained in custody.

The FBI, Internal Revenue Service, and U.S. Marshals Service investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorneys Dan Fruchter, Jeremy J. Kelley, and Brian M. Donovan prosecuted the case on behalf of the U.S.