N.Y. Dad Admits Helping Son with Car Insurance Scam

A 57-year-old man admitted pulling off an insurance scam with his son, a former college student who faces up to 157 years in prison for federal drug and weapons crimes.

Gerald Thomas Sr., of Norwich, pleaded guilty this week in Syracuse, N.Y. to mail fraud in U.S. District Court, said U.S. Attorney Glenn Suddaby.

Thomas’s sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 14. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. Thomas was allowed to remain free on bail until his sentencing.

Thomas admitted helping his son, Gregory Thomas, in an insurance fraud scheme in July 2003. The younger Thomas tried to sink a 1994 Volkswagen Jetta in an isolated pond, report it stolen and collect insurance proceeds. Authorities, however, discovered the scheme and recovered the car from the pond.

Gregory Thomas, 26, was convicted last month by a federal court jury on multiple counts, including insurance fraud. Other charges involved drug-trafficking and weapons. The same jury convicted his brother, Gerald Thomas Jr., 25.

Gregory Thomas was identified as the ringleader of a gang of drug dealers — mostly college students — who sometimes posed as police to steal drugs from other dealers in the Syracuse and Albany areas. He was convicted of possessing a quarter-pound of C-4 plastic explosives and stolen firearms and trying to hire someone for $10,000 to murder a victim of one of the drug robberies.

At the time of the crimes, Gregory was a student at LeMoyne College, a Jesuit school in Syracuse, while Gerald Jr. was attending College of St. Rose in Albany, Suddaby said.

U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Scullin will sentence the brothers on Oct. 17. Gregory Thomas faces a mandatory minimum of 157 years, while the charges against his younger brother carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 57 years, Suddaby said. Both are being held without bail.

Latest Comments

• January 28, 2007 at 5:31 am

  Krys says:

  I grew up with those kids and they weren\'t bad kids growing up. Normal, really into sports and very popular. The kind of kids everyone looked up to really. Actually if it ... read more
• October 27, 2006 at 2:16 am

  someone says:

  I know the family and I would say all the things that were already said.
• October 17, 2006 at 8:46 am

  Anonymous says:

  Maybe you should know the whole story before making assumptions about a family that you don\'t even know.If you or someone you knew was in this situation, you would be saying ... read more