The northwest Georgia man who ran a chop shop in his junkyard will spend five years in federal prison.
Johnny Lee Summerville, 61, was also ordered to pay more than $191,000 in restitution, U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement.
Summerville obtained vehicles he knew were stolen and swapped the VIN numbers before attempting to resell the vehicles, Yates said. The Cedartown man did the same thing with pieces of heavy equipment.
“Under the guise of operating a legitimate auto salvage business, this defendant bought and sold stolen motor vehicles and heavy equipment," Yates said. "By doing so, he provided incentive to thieves who would steal motor vehicles and heavy equipment with knowledge that they could sell the stolen vehicles and equipment to the defendant."
Summerville was the subject of an undercover investigation, Yates said. During that time, Summerville sold stolen vehicles to an undercover officer, as well as hydrocodone pills.
In October 2009, investigators executed a search warrant at Summerville's shop, where they found numerous stolen vehicles and vehicles with altered VIN plates.
In December, Summerville pleaded guilty to one count of operating a chop shop and a drug charge.
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