A Spokane developer and preservationist has been sentenced to one year of home confinement and ordered to pay a $60,000 fine, plus restitution and forfeiture, for his role in insurance fraud and money laundering.
Richard Ronald Wells, 71, of Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was sentenced after having pleaded guilty on April 30, 2019, to six counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Chief United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Wells to a 1-year term of home confinement, to be followed by a 3-year term of court supervision, and ordered him to pay a $60,000 fine. Chief Judge Rice also ordered Wells to pay restitution in the amount of $179,876 and forfeiture of $179,876. Wells forfeited this amount and paid it in full to the court registry prior to sentencing.
According to information disclosed during court proceedings, Wells admitted to participating in one staged accident in Liberty Lake, Washington, involving his $59,557 Ram pickup truck being intentionally driven into co-defendant Chris Frangella’s Ford F-150 pickup truck trailering another individual’s 36-foot Baja cigar boat. In an effort to pursue a fraudulent insurance claim, Wells lied to police and the insurance company by claiming he was the driver of the “at fault” vehicle and that it was an accident, when neither were true.
The insurance proceeds fraudulently generated from the phony accident totaled $338,266. The scheme enabled Wells to eliminate approximately $80,000 in personal debt (a $20,000 loan borrowed from another individual and $59,557 he owed a credit union on his Ram truck).
Wells’ fraudulent claim also enabled co-conspirator, Sandra Talento, to collect an insurance payout for fictitious personal injuries claimed to occur in the same incident. Talento pleaded guilty on June 6, 2019, to twenty-five felonies in connection with her role in this and other staged accidents. Talento was sentenced on November 7, 2019, to a 5-year and 10-month term of imprisonment, a 3-year term of court supervision, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,100,000 and forfeiture of $2,100,000.
According to information disclosed during court proceedings, Wells also laundered proceeds from another staged accident involving other individuals. These proceeds were derived from a September 21, 2016, staged automobile accident in Rescue, California, involving defendants Misael Reyes-Tajimaroa (using the fake identity “Andrew Arceo”), Brittany Jo Harris, Alexander Arceo and others that generated fraudulent insurance settlement payouts totaling approximately $312,838.
United States Attorney William D. Hyslop said, “Ron Wells’ fraudulent conduct needlessly caused health care providers, emergency personnel and police officers to expend precious resources that otherwise could have been used to assist true victims. He lied to police and an insurance company in furtherance of an insurance fraud scheme and then he laundered criminal proceeds to disguise their illegal origin. Wells committed serious crimes here. In spite of the fact that he was once a respected community leader and developer in our region, he sacrificed that when he cheated, lied and laundered money.”
Related Federal Cases
- Richard Ronald Wells, Insurance Fraud Scheme, WA 2024 · Washington
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Key Facts
- State: Washington
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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