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A Vermont man has pleaded guilty to defrauding the Barre auto dealership where he worked by selling parts on Facebook that he had ordered on the company’s account, resulting in losses to his employer of more than $500,000, according to federal prosecutors. Parts And Accessories
Robert McLane, 36, entered his guilty plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Burlington to a single charge of mail fraud as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’ Office in Vermont, court records show. He remains free on conditions pending his sentencing Oct. 31.
He faces up to 20 years in prison. The actual sentence handed down by Judge Christina Reiss will likely be less after taking into account the advisory federal sentencing guidelines in the case.
McLane, according to charging documents, carried out the scheme between March 2019 and Sept. 23, 2022, when he was employed by Formula Nissan in Barre as the parts manager and then director of parts and service.
In his job, the filing stated, McLane ordered many parts, including vehicle suspension lift kits which cost Formula Nissan between $2,300 to $2,900 apiece.
In a press release, federal prosecutors said McLane did not use the dealership’s parts ordering system to purchase the materials, a “bypass” that meant the parts “were not entered into Formula Nissan’s inventory of parts-on-hand.”
Then, according to the release, he advertised the parts for sale on Facebook and sold them to purchasers across the country using Formula Nissan’s Federal Express account to ship the parts to his own customers.
In total, charging documents alleged, McLane’s scheme resulted in the dealership and its insurance company suffering an “out-of-pocket loss” of at least $575,000.
Steven Barth, a federal public defender representing McLane, could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
Auto Spare Parts VTDigger's criminal justice reporter. More by Alan J. Keays