<b><font color=red>NEW — </b></font color>Bingham sentence postponed again

By Krystal J. Carman

May 6, 2009 — The federal sentencing of a former Oologah baseball coach has been once again postponed.

William Todd Bingham pleaded guilty in July to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering. He was to be sentenced this afternoon in Connecticut Federal Court. This will be the fourth time Bingham’s sentencing has been postponed.

According to a motion for continuation of sentencing filed earlier this week, Bingham was granted an additional 30 days to continue discussing the amount and manner of restitution and to assist in caring for his ailing mother-in-law who, according to the court filing, is at a hospice in Oklahoma and is very ill. A new date for sentencing has not been set.

An indictment was filed against Bingham July 24 stating between May 2001 and June 2007, Bingham persuaded investors to give him millions of dollars by “falsely representing that he would use the money to finance his business ... where (he) purchased large volumes of vehicles at auctions and resold the vehicles to national car rental companies for substantial profits.” Bingham told the investors he had been selling vehicle to the rental companies for 10 years.

According to the motion filed in federal court, the probation office conducted a brief interview of Bingham at the counsel table outside the presence of his attorney and obtained “factual information from the defendant.”

Six days later, Bingham pleaded guilty.

Despite having no contract with any car rental company, the indictment states that Bingham provided investors fictitious documents, some which showed Bingham had purchased 7,497 vehicles and made a gross profit of more than $2 million in 2002.

Forty-two investors provided Bingham with approximately $7 million to finance his alleged businesses, for which Bingham promised 50 percent of the profits from the resale of the cars and their principal investment would be returned at the end of the term.

Connecticut investors provided $1.8 million to finance Bingham’s false business. That money came via wire from bank accounts in Connecticut to bank accounts in Oklahoma which were controlled by Bingham, the indictment states. On July 27, 2005, Bingham convinced an investor to wire $59,990 from California to Lakeside State Bank in Oklahoma.

On the same day, Bingham drew a cashier’s check for $15,000 from the Lakeside bank account and transferred it to an person, T.B., who deposited the check into an account at RCB Bank.

Some of the funds were returned to investors, according to court documents, which led investors to believe they were receiving “profits” earned on their investment into the vehicle purchase/resale investment. The federal government alleged that the funds returned to investors as “profits” were actually new funds from new investors.

None of the investment funds were used to purchase vehicles for resale, but were instead used for Bingham’s own personal expenses including car loan and mortgage payments, credit card bills and checks made out to himself for cash.

Bingham not only falsely took money from investors from 2001 to 2007, he also failed to filed income taxes from 2001 to 2006.

Bingham’s guilty pleas are a result of a plea agreement where he could face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for wire fraud and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for money laundering. However, due to Bingham’s quick action to accept responsibility for his actions, according to the indictment, the government is recommending a sentencing range between 70 to 87 months — 5 to 7.25 years — for wire fraud and 57 to 71 months — approximately 4 to 6 years — for money laundering.

The government is recommending Bingham be subject to a fine between $12, 500 and $125,000 for wire fraud and between $10,000 to $100,000 for money laundering.

In addition, Bingham will be ordered to pay restitution to the victims for lost income and necessary child care, transportation and other expenses incurred during the investigation of the case.

Bingham will also be required to file income tax returns for the years 2001 to 2006 or agree to the civil tax adjustments calculated by the IRS by singing Forms 4549 for the years in question.

Real property located at 8307 East 370th Road in Oologah and a sum of money equal to the value of all forfeitable assets Bingham owns will be forfeited to the federal government.

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