Deon Dovell Roberts, Train Wreck Conspiracy, South Carolina 2013

Amtrak Wreck Conspiracy

Fairfax Man Sentenced in Amtrak Wreck Conspiracy

A South Carolina man has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in an Amtrak wreck conspiracy. Deon Dovell Roberts, 35, of Fairfax, South Carolina, was sentenced in federal court on Friday, according to United States Attorney Bill Nettles.

Roberts pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud/cause a train wreck/interfere with a train operator and to interfering with the operation of a train, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1992(a)(6). He was also ordered to make restitution to Amtrak in the amount of $46,690.27.

The crime, which occurred on September 6, 2013, involved Roberts and his co-defendant, James Duvall Love, parking a car at Bakers Mill Crossing in Allendale, South Carolina, in the path of an oncoming Amtrak passenger train. The two men then got out of the car prior to the collision, feigned injury, and returned to the car after the collision, all in an attempt to submit bogus claims for personal injuries and other losses.

Roberts’ co-defendant, James Duvall Love, age 34, of Fairfax, South Carolina, also pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud/cause a train wreck/interfere with a train operator and was sentenced to 46 months imprisonment in January 2016.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Amtrak Office of Inspector General, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Fairfax Police Department, and the Allendale County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Eric Klumb and Stacey D. Haynes of the Columbia office handled the prosecution of the case.

United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs sentenced Roberts to 21 months imprisonment to be followed by 3 years of federal supervised release on each charge, to run concurrently. During the sentencing hearing, Judge Childs stated that this was “a serious crime” and that Roberts’ request for a probationary sentence was not appropriate due to the “significant nature of this crime and potentially what could have happened.”

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