Guilty plea in dealer fraud case
LIBERTY, Ind. – A former Indiana boat dealer who pleaded guilty to 18 theft and two forgery charges will serve time in prison and repay at least $48,730 to his victims, the Palladium-Item newspaper reported in a story on its Web site today.
Daryl Hokey, who operated All About Water and Campers EZ Stop, was sentenced last Friday after first being arrested one year ago. Hokey was sentenced to six years for forgery, a Class C felony, with three years suspended. He also was sentenced to three years each on 15 counts of theft, Class D felonies. Sentences for all those counts will be served concurrently, the newspaper reported.
According to court documents, Hokey sold boats he didn’t own that were stored in his storage facility and sold some boats more than once. He also collected money from buyers but forged checks and failed to provide boats, the Palladium-Item reported.
“If there had only been one victim, you might think it was a contractual issue, but there was a pattern here,” Deputy Prosecutor Kathy Kolger said in the story.
With “good time” credit and credit for 300 days already served in Union County Jail awaiting disposition of the case, Hokey will serve about 16 months in the Indiana Department of Correction. In Indiana, inmates can earn a day off their sentence for each day served with good behavior.
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