Endgame
On May 2, 2003, Conway pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion before U.S. District Court Judge Nanette K. Laughrey; she hadn't paid taxes on the finder's fees earned in 2000. In return, she agreed to testify against Nichols and Gomez. She was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $4.9 million in restitution.
On May 15, Baker pleaded guilty to two counts of interstate fraud before Laughrey in return for her testimony against Nichols and Gomez. She was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $12.5 million in restitution.
Gomez and Nichols pleaded not guilty and took their chances with a trial in Kansas City, even though they risked spending the rest of their lives in prison if convicted (the charges carried a maximum sentence of 460 years in prison).
During the trial, witness after witness testified about how they had been duped. Car dealer Randy Lamb lost $218,000 in the scam, and told the court that his losses nearly bankrupted him and kept his mother from retiring as planned. Greg Ross, a car salesman in San Juan Capistrano, who lost $120,000, testified that he demanded to speak with the manager of the bank servicing the Bowers estate. A few days later, a man named Bob Burrows, a loan officer with First Bank and Trust in Lakewood, California, called him, and he disclosed enough details about the account to make Ross feel somewhat better. But Ross couldn't get in touch with Burrows when he had more questions, and got suspicious when Baker called him wondering why he was checking up on them; finally, Burrows called back, but while the "Bob Burrows" Ross spoke with a few days earlier had an unmistakable African-American accent, this Burrows had a New England accent. Nichols took the stand in his own defense, portraying himself as Gomez' victim.
On June 5, 2003, both men were found guilty of all 46 counts - 23 each of interstate fraud and money laundering. Gomez was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison, and Nichols was sentenced to 24 years and four months; Nichols drew the stiffer sentence because Laughrey found he'd perjured himself on seven occasions during his testimony. Both were also ordered to pay $12.5 million in restitution, and Gomez was fined $8.7 million - an amount presumed missing.
It was never established who was mainly responsible for the scam. The sentences were upheld on appeal to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
On March 15, 2007, Laughrey approved a final restitution plan. Under this plan, 2,300 people who didn't get refunds will be compensated on a pro rata basis. It is not known whether the missing $8.7 million was ever recovered. Checks started going out in the mail in March 2008; victims received six percent of their total loss.
John Phillips III wrote two articles on the scam for Car and Driver, based on several interviews and letters from people involved in the case. In 2006, he wrote God Wants You to Roll, (ISBN 0786714433) a book chronicling the scam and trial.
In 2009, a documentary on the scam as part of the series American Greed aired on CNBC.
Read more about this topic: Miracle Cars Scam