The downfall of a family-run business began in 2008 with multiple complaints of Internet fraud being filed by buyers in the United States as well as foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Australia and Belgium.
The cases against Stephen Craig Wood and Geoffrey Tyler Wood started in the months before a raid, in August of 2008, on American Classic Cars by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Task Force, the Conroe Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. Seven theft warrants were issued for the father and three additional warrants were issued for the son.
The father, Stephen Craig Wood, 68, was convicted of first-degree felony aggregate theft in April and sentenced to 42 years in prison. During that trial, co-prosecutor Nicole Czajkoski told the court that the total amount of money lost by victims was more than $405,000, while the total value of vehicles lost by victims was more than $323,000.
Geoffrey Tyler Wood, 28, was convicted last week of stealing around $1 million in cars and money from American Classic Cars’ customers. Wood was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
The son will have to serve one-quarter of his sentence before being eligible for parole. He also was ordered to pay $10,000 in fines for each conviction. At least one former employee of American Classic Cars, located in Conroe, TX, testified against Wood.
Assistant District Attorney Rob Freyer said that the Wood’s operation “…became a Ponzi scheme on four wheels.”
Reportedly, one of the Wood’s many alleged victims was an FBI agent working in counter-terrorism. Several people have been able to recover their cars, but without the title. “I’ve got a 1980 Corvette paperweight sitting in the driveway,” said one of the Wood’s former customers.
Similar stories were found on area merchant listing web sites that support reviews. In January of 2009. T. Hitt of Willis, TX, commented, “Sold my 1957 Chevy would not have know if I hadn’t driven by and seen it gone ( I still had the title) lost over $4000 on the sale and had to wait almost 2 months to get my money, they’re check was no good. Give this business a bad name, hope Father and Son get what they deserve!”