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Susan Cunningham, age 48, of Monroe, formerly of Blue Springs, Missouri, made the plea on Monday, Feb. 8, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately August 2014 and October 2015, Cunningham and Wilfredo J. Albanese, while living in Missouri, sold more than 40 vehicles with altered odometers to unsuspecting purchasers.
As part of the scheme, Cunningham and Albanese purchased high-mileage used vehicles and then used a variety of means to alter or reduce the mileage shown on the vehicles’ odometers.
They also concealed mechanical issues with those vehicles by removing “check engine” lights from the instrument panels, providing buyers with phony maintenance receipts and vehicle history reports, and concealing rust and other damage to the vehicle through paint or other means, court documents said.
Cunningham and Albanese obtained Certificates of Title for the used vehicles they purchased. Under the assumed identities of the persons listed on those Certificates of Title, they advertised and sold the vehicles to customers on Craigslist.org. Most of the victim purchasers resided in Missouri.
In May 2019, a grand jury in the Western District of Missouri returned a 20-count indictment charging Cunningham and Albanese with offenses related to this scheme. The case was transferred from the Western District of Missouri to the District of Connecticut for further prosecution.
Wire fraud carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Cunningham is released pending sentencing in April.
In July, Albanese pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced to 42 months of imprisonment and ordered to pay $51,600 in restitution.
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