Jurors today gave Geoffrey Tyler Wood 25 years on each of the two first degree felony counts of theft. Visiting Judge P.K. Reiter in the 359th District Court then stacked the sentences meaning he has to complete the first sentence before he starts his second sentence.
His father Stephen Wood was found guilty in April and given 42 years. The younger Wood could have gotten up to 99 years or life for his part in the scheme to steal close to $1.5 million in classic vehicles and cash from good honest citizens who trusted them.
Rob Freyer who is the prosecutor in the case stated, “we just heard from victim after victim after victim who told a jury that worked very hard and took this very seriously about the lies, the deception, the delay tactics and the front that these crooks ran.”
Mr. Freyer said, “the victims came from everywhere, they came from all walks of life. We had an FBI agent, Vietnam Vet, Gulf War Vet,US Navy, a bank president from El Campo, Texas. Good people, honest people, hard working people.”
The case came to light on the afternoon of August 12, 2008 when Conroe Police along with Montgomery County Auto Theft Task Force raided the Classic Car business on West Davis in Conroe. There they arrested Stephen Wood, the owner of the business and his son Geoffrey who was acting as the vice-president.
Owners of some of the cars were called to come and pick their cars up, most of these being classics and worth thousands. The pair had been selling the cars on consignment then not paying the owners or delivering the titles to the new owners.
One car was stopped in Washington state just before it was loaded on a ship because it did not have proper documentation.
Freyer said, “they were found all over the country and never received the title. They can’t drive it, they can’t sell it, they can’t insure it, it just sits in their driveway.”
Some of the victims that testified had sold the cars and had plans for the money. One man was going to use it for hip surgery, another for college for his daughter and yet another for a wedding.
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