Guilty plea entered in insurance fraud

Monday, Feb. 26, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

District Judge John McGroarty has set April 19 for sentencing of Rory G. Graham, who pleaded guilty to bilking auto insurance companies out of $83,324 by filing false claims in the wreck of a Lexus.

Graham, 37, formerly of Boulder City, pleaded guilty Friday to three felony counts of insurance fraud and faces up to 12 years in prison and fines up to $15,000. As part of the plea bargain, Graham will make restitution to the insurance companies.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said the state has filed a civil forfeiture action against one of Graham's bank accounts, which contains $154,000.

A complaint filed in 1997 said Graham and Daniel J. Erickson took out separate insurance policies with various companies on a 1993 Lexus using false ownership documents and proof of identification.

Each later claimed that after swerving to avoid a coyote on U.S. 93, they crashed into a guard rail. The two were paid more than $83,000. They filed more than 15 claims in Nevada and California seeking more than $120,000, according to the attorney general's office.

Graham was arrested last year in Wisconsin on phony credit card charges. Erickson has been arrested in Southern California, where he is still in custody.