Cantonment Man Sentenced To Prison For Swindling Auto Repair Customers

December 31, 2019

A Cantonment man that owned an Escambia County automotive business has been sentenced to state prison for swindling customers.

Harley Brian Palmer, owner of Harley’s Automotive & Performance, entered a plea to racketeering, organized fraud (more than $20,000 but less than $50,000), four counts of dealing in stolen property, and six counts of grand theft (more than $300 but less than $5,000).

He was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison and ordered to pay over $20,000 in restitution. He faced a maximum sentence of 135 years.

Between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018, Palmer committed multiple counts of theft and dealing in stolen property in a systematic and ongoing course of conduct against multiple victims. Victims took their vehicles to Harley’s Automotive with the expectation that their vehicles would be repaired. Money was exchanged but the repairs were never completed, according to State Attorney Bill Eddins.

Palmer continued to use Harley’s Automotive to take in additional vehicles without completing repairs. Ultimately, he sold several of the vehicles without the permission or consent of the vehicle owners. Several of these vehicles ended up at a recycling company and were destroyed.

Palmer’s record includes convictions for worthless checks, petit theft, burglary, possession of burglary tools and more.

Comments

7 Responses to “Cantonment Man Sentenced To Prison For Swindling Auto Repair Customers”

  1. David on January 1st, 2020 12:28 pm

    Define lenient…if it were you , you would claim it was too harsh…let the justice system do its job without keyboard warriors making uninformed comments as to why. It dont matter why, that’s not we citizens job.

  2. Bewildered on January 1st, 2020 9:57 am

    a good mechanic can make a very good living the honest way! Makes you wonder if he knew his trade or was a con man all along!

  3. Dallas on January 1st, 2020 9:02 am

    Why did this thief get such a lenient sentence?

  4. Barbara Agerton on January 1st, 2020 7:54 am

    Yeah,this crook,hard to believe this went on for so long, he charged someone I know $300.00 for wiggling a wire…………..rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr did not replace what he charged her for….this was about 3 yrs ago. Bye Bye………..

  5. Chris Paul on December 31st, 2019 6:31 pm

    Should of been 19 years for this crook

  6. Good grief on December 31st, 2019 1:14 pm

    Apparently he wanted to go to prison. Some just can’t deal with being free. Good job dude.

  7. Allen cBelow gallina on December 31st, 2019 8:44 am

    Burn, baby Burn.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News