Handing a beloved classic over to a restoration shop always requires a leap of faith for car enthusiasts. In Galveston County, Texas, that faith turned into a five-year nightmare for dozens of owners who trusted one shop with their most prized vehicles.
The Sentence and the Scope of the Fraud
Richard Thomas Finley, former operator of Classic American Street Rods in the San Leon–Bacliff area, has been sentenced to 60 years in prison after a jury convicted him of felony theft exceeding $300,000. According to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office, Finley defrauded at least 72 victims between 2018 and 2023, collecting large upfront deposits for engine swaps that were never finished. The total amount stolen from customers topped $498,000.
The Pattern: Deposits, Delays, and Disappearing Parts
Finley marketed his shop as a one-stop solution for owners of classic vehicles who wanted to swap in newer, more reliable engines. Customers paid substantial deposits before any work began, and what followed, according to prosecutors, was a repeating cycle: prolonged delays, vague status updates, and shifting excuses that stretched months into years.
Trial evidence went further than simple non-performance. Investigators allege that parts were actually removed from customer vehicles and sold to other buyers, meaning some victims lost not just their deposits but original components off their own cars. Multiple victims testified that the engine swaps they paid for were never performed at all.
How Investigators Built the Case
The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and the county’s Auto Crimes Task Force began digging into complaints and uncovered what prosecutors characterized as a systematic operation rather than a few isolated disputes. During the investigation, authorities recovered more than 20 classic vehicles and were able to return them to their rightful owners, though many victims had already lost years of progress and money regardless of getting their cars back.
Why the Sentence Stands Out
Restoration-shop fraud cases aren’t rare, but sentencing outcomes vary widely based on factors beyond the dollar amount alone. A New York restoration shop owner sentenced in November received just two years in prison despite prosecutors saying he fraudulently obtained more than $2.5 million, over five times the amount in the Texas case. The key difference appears to be victim count: 72 people in the Galveston case versus three in the New York matter, suggesting courts may weigh the breadth of harm as heavily as the total loss.
Why This Type of Fraud Is Hard to Catch Early
Classic car builds legitimately take years, which creates a gray area where delays can look normal even when nothing is happening. Customers typically rely on periodic updates and assurances rather than regular in-person inspections of their vehicle, and that dynamic is exactly what allowed Finley’s scheme to continue for half a decade before enforcement caught up.
For anyone considering a major restoration or engine swap, the case underscores some basic protective steps: written contracts with milestone-based payments rather than large upfront lump sums, requests for photo or video documentation at each stage, and periodic in-person visits to confirm the vehicle is actually on the shop’s property and being worked on. A 60-year sentence won’t undo the years some victims lost, but it does send a clear signal that courts are willing to treat large-scale restoration fraud as serious criminal conduct rather than a mere business dispute.