Jury Convicts Chenango County Man Of Insurance Fraud

NEW YORK, NY (05/04/2010)(readMedia)-- A Chenango County man could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison as the result of his conviction Thursday for arranging to have his 1999 Jeep burned in an attempt to collect a $3,800 insurance claim.

Reginald Lockwood, 52, of East Main Street, Bainbridge, was found guilty of third degree insurance fraud following a three-day trial in Broome County Court. Judge Martin E. Smith scheduled sentencing for June 30.

The trial was conducted after Lockwood pleaded not guilty to charges filed after his arrest in February 2009 as the result of an investigation by the New York State Insurance Department's Frauds Bureau.

Lockwood was accused of arranging for another individual or individuals to take his Jeep from Binghamton and drive it to a rural area where it was found burned in January 2007. Investigators later discovered that a flammable substance was used to burn the vehicle, but no one other than Lockwood was ever charged.

Lockwood was never paid for an insurance claim he filed after falsely reporting the car had been stolen.

The investigation involved the Insurance Department's Frauds Bureau, the Broome County Sheriff's Department and the county Emergency Management Office, as well as investigators from Allstate Insurance Company, AT&T and Time Warner.

Assistant District Attorney Stephen Ferri prosecuted the case.

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