A Greenville man, Willard Timothy Sutton, was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release for mail fraud related to a multi-year Ponzi scheme. Sutton, aged 64, pleaded guilty on February 26, 2025. He is also required to pay $8,986,162 in restitution to the victims.
“The defendant orchestrated a complex and brazen Ponzi scheme that exploited the trust of hard-working North Carolinians, based upon his own greed,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel P. Bubar. “We are committed to holding those accountable who prey on the citizens in our communities for personal gain.”
“Mr. Sutton ran a local business for many years, purporting to help those with poor or no credit get much needed vehicle loans. When he ran into financial trouble, he chose to commit a federal crime rather than admit his business was failing. The FBI hopes today’s sentence and restitution offers some sense of justice to those who trusted him to legitimately invest their hard-earned money,” stated James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina.
Court documents revealed that between 2019 and 2023, Sutton operated a Ponzi scheme through his business Greenville Auto World, LLC (GAW). More than 65 victims in Eastern North Carolina suffered net losses of approximately $9 million. Federal investigators estimate that Sutton collected over $63 million from investors during this period.
GAW functioned as a “buy here pay here” (BHPH) car dealership that allowed customers with poor credit histories to finance vehicles directly through the dealership at higher interest rates than traditional loans. From 2012 to 2023, Sutton sold BHPH finance contracts to outside investors using direct solicitation and referrals.
Starting around 2019, Sutton misled investors about the security of their investments and GAW’s ability to repay them. In reality, GAW lacked the means to service its debt through legitimate income sources.
To hide GAW’s financial state and delay its collapse, Sutton operated it as a Ponzi scheme by selling legitimate loan contracts alongside false versions without investor knowledge. He used proceeds from these fraudulent sales to pay earlier investors and forged documents to convince them of investment security.
In 2022, Sutton sought additional funds by falsely claiming he needed investor money for vehicle purchases when it was used instead to maintain the Ponzi scheme.
Daniel P. Bubar announced the sentencing conclusion after an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Charlotte Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam F. Hulbig prosecuted the case for the government.
