Sentence Handed Down To Norwich Man In Insurance Scam: U.S. Attorney

NORWICH, CT — A 34-year-old Norwich man, who federal prosecutors said staged car accidents to bilk insurance companies, was sentenced to Wednesday to eight months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, in connection with the crimes.

Jonas Joseph, aka "James," was sentenced by United States District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven, according to U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly. Joseph was found guilty in June of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.

Also found guilty was Mackenzy Noze of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud. Earlier this month, he was sentenced to 48 months in prison.

According to Daly and trial records, between March 2011 and February 2014, Noze, Joseph and others conspired to stage numerous car crashes in eastern Connecticut for the purpose of defrauding automobile insurance companies and enriching themselves. A high percentage of these planned crashes were single-vehicle accidents on remote roads where there were no witnesses other than the occupants of the crashed vehicle. After each staged accident, the defendants filed fraudulent property damage and bodily injury claims with various automobile insurance companies. They then collected payouts on the fraudulent claims from the victim insurance companies. These payouts typically ranged from approximately $10,000 to $30,000 per accident, according to Daly.

Five other individuals have been charged and convicted as a result of this investigation.

"The evidence at trial indicated that Noze participated in as many as 50 staged crashes, and Joseph was personally involved in six crashes," wrote Daly in a statement. "In three of the crashes, Joseph feigned injury and filed fraudulent bodily injury claims. In the other three, he allowed others to crash into his vehicle so that he could collect payouts on fraudulent property damage claims."

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Meyer also ordered Joseph to pay restitution of $44,153.42.

Joseph has been released on a $10,000 bond since his arrest on June 1, 2016. He is scheduled to report to prison on November 27.

This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Norwich Police Department, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Avi Perry and Michael J. Gustafson.

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