A federal judge has sentenced Mackenzy Noze to four years in prison for staging car accidents to defraud auto insurers.
Noze, 33, also must pay more than $207,000 in restitution.
On June 15, a jury found Noze guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud.
According to the evidence presented during the trial, Noze and others conspired to stage numerous car crashes between March 2011 and February 2014 in eastern Connecticut to defraud automobile insurance companies and profit from it.
Many of the planned crashes were single-vehicle accidents on remote roads where there were no witnesses other than the occupants of the crashed vehicle, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
After each staged accident, the defendants filed fraudulent property damage and bodily injury claims with various insurers. They then collected payouts on the fraudulent claims from the victim insurance companies, ranging from approximately $10,000 to $30,000 per accident, according to federal authorities.
The evidence at trial indicated that Noze participated in as many as 50 staged crashes, 11 of which were described in detail during the trial.
Noze, a Haitan national last residing in Norwich, Conn., was arrested on May 23, 2016, and is detained. He is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and faces immigration proceedings after he serves his sentence.
Six other individuals have been charged and convicted as a result of the investigation.
