Gene Earl Easterling, Bank and Mail Fraud, AL 2017

Montgomery’s Gene Earl Easterling, 47, was handed a 63-month sentence for bank and mail fraud, along with drug charges, officials confirmed. The scheme, which ran from 2015 to 2017, saw Easterling and his conspirators dupe banks and credit unions out of over $680,000 in fraudulent auto loans.

Easterling posed as the owner of a non-existent car dealership, ‘Next-in-Line, Inc.’, submitting loan applications for cars he never sold. Once payments were approved, they cashed the checks, pocketing funds without any vehicle purchases. His co-conspirators also faced pending cases.

Additionally, Easterling was found in possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. U.S. Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr., emphasized the dual nature of Easterling’s crimes, saying, ‘When criminals lie to banks for their own gain and sell drugs, it endangers everyone.’

The Postal Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez noted, ‘Easterling shamelessly enriched himself by taking advantage of credit unions and banks,’ while DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Clay Morris highlighted the link between drug trafficking and other crimes.

U.S. Attorney Franklin promised to continue working with law enforcement to protect communities from such criminal activity. The investigation was a joint effort by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration, prosecuted by Denise O. Simpson and Curtis Ivy.