Granger man sentenced to prison and over $1M in restitution for fraud scheme

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – A 63-year-old Granger man was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud, according to U.S. District Court Judge Jon DeGuilio.

James LeDonne was sentenced to 14 years in prison followed by one year of supervised release. He is also ordered to pay $1,410,580.31 in restitution to the victims.

According to documents from 2008 to 2014, LeDonne was allegedly involved in a fraud scheme that persuaded customers to order vehicles and send money for down payments, but he would not execute the order.

LeDonne did not own or prove that the vehicles existed. He and his employees lied to their customers about production schedules, delivery dates, and refunds, according to Judge DeGuilio.

In order to avoid returning money to customers, LeDonne would file bankruptcy and start a new business but continue the fraud scheme with new customers.

According to officials, LeDonne defrauded at least 63 customers nationally and internationally.

This case was an investigation by the Indiana State Police Organized Crime and Corruption Unit and the FBI Financial Crimes Task Force, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gary Bell and Luke Reilander.