ANDRE RAMON SOMERSET PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT

Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings on April 5, 2007, before U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, ANDRE RAMON SOMERSET pled guilty to mail fraud. Sentencing is set for July 11, 2007. He is currently detained.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

In August of 2001, SOMERSET met an individual, hereafter identified as "S.W.", a Billings auto broker. During this meeting, SOMERSET told "S.W." he had people interested in purchasing high-end vehicles without going through dealerships. As their business relationship progressed, SOMERSET asked "S.W." to locate the desired luxury cars and make arrangements for SOMERSET'S clients to buy them from various dealerships. All of the material information provided to the dealership regarding the car sales was false (i.e. stolen identities, incorrect addresses, false employment information, counterfeit driver's licenses, false insurance information, etc.). SOMERSET would generally pick up the vehicles from the dealership.

Eight individual transactions, using "S.W." as the middle-man, took place between October of 2001 and April of 2002. SOMERSET used the identities of eight people to purchase expensive cars and obtain financing.

The individuals whose identities were stolen were all contacted and confirmed that they never participated in, or gave permission for their personal identification to be used for the purchase or financing of the vehicles.

The total loss caused by SOMERSET'S conduct was $318,000.

On January 25, 2007, SOMERSET was interviewed, and although he initially denied any culpability in the use of the identities to obtain vehicles and financing, he subsequently admitted, by inference, that he had indeed committed the fraud, stating that it had been executed at a time when he was waiting for other criminal charges relating to a similar scheme involving real property to be resolved.

SOMERSET faces possible penalties of 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl E. Rostad prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638.

United States Attorney's Office for the District of Montana

P.O. Box 1478

Billings, MT 59103

CONTACT
Kurt Alme
First Assistant U.S. Attorney
(406) 247-4669