By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Former used car dealer Keith Birdwell yesterday admitted he wrote thousands of dollars worth of bad checks to Security State Bank and didn’t pay back loans to the Centralia-based financial institution, the first step in a plea deal to avoid a potential lengthy prison term.
Birdwell, 48, and his wife were charged early last year in Lewis County Superior Court with theft, for allegedly using various deceptions to dodge repaying what they owed for the vehicles at Birdwell Auto Sales in Centralia and their lot in Lacey. Both businesses are now closed.
The criminal case came out of a lengthy investigation by the Centralia Police Department, with losses claimed by the bank of more than $1 million.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Eisenberg said if Birdwell pays off a certain amount of what he owes before a sentencing hearing scheduled in July, Eisenberg will recommend to the judge a 12-month sentence.
The amount agreed upon by the deadline is known only to the parties involved, according to Eisenberg.
The Toledo couple was charged originally with first-degree theft, as well as multiple counts of unlawful issuance of a bank check, all with special allegations the actions were major economic offenses with a high degree of sophistication, meaning if convicted, a possible penalty of 10 years in prison and / or a $20,000 fine.
Eisenberg said the reasons prosecutors made a deal instead of taking the case to trial will be easier to explain this summer, when they are back in court.
“(This) gets some of the punishment I wanted and it gets something for the bank,” he said.
Security State Bank was involved in the process and satisfied with the arrangement he said.
Tacoma-based defense attorney Keith McFie had little to say; only that his client pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on July 2.
Birdwell and his wife Lorrine D. Birdwell, 45, have been free on signature bonds since the beginning, although they did have to visit the jail to get their photos and fingerprints taken.
The circumstances involved a form of a line of credit with the bank, in which the unsold vehicles at the car lots were used as collateral for loans, and a day in July 2012 when a bank employee discovered 21 vehicles were unaccounted for, according to charging documents.
After an inquiry by phone from the bank’s president, Keith Birdwell allegedly over a period of three days wrote checks from their Twin Star Credit Union account to their Security State account. The first one was for $29,750, all but one of the others were larger.
The checks didn’t clear. Keith Birdwell indicated to police he expected them to be covered by a loan from an associate.
All but the one charge for first-degree theft have been dismissed in Lorrine D. Birdwell’s case. Lawyers are reportedly working on a plea deal with her which is tied to her husband’s.
Birdwell yesterday pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree theft and three counts of felony unlawful issuance of a bank check.
Eisenberg yesterday told the judge he expects to dismiss two remaining counts of unlawful issuance of a bank check at the sentencing hearing, if Birdwell has kept his end of the bargain.
If not, and Birdwell were convicted on all the counts, along with the so-called aggravators, the standard sentencing range is 14 to 18 months in prison, however the judge would be free to hand down as much as the maximum of a decade, according to Eisenberg.
Eisenberg said he’s not certain what may happen if the agreed upon amount is not repaid by then, except he noted he and McFie did have an alternate agreement they’d discussed.
He said he understands Birdwell is working, doing some kind of freelance auto sales.
Still to be determined is the total amount of restitution owed, an amount which is in dispute, he said.
Which portion which came from criminal behavior and how much came about simply because the business was doing poorly will have to be decided by a judge later on, according to Eisenberg.
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For background, read “Centralia used car lot owners appear in court on criminal charges” from Wednesday January 23, 2013, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter