SAN FRANCISCO — A man who ran a Marin County luxury car consignment service has been sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion, court records show.
Walter Dawydiak, 65, is set to be released next month from USP Lompoc, where he’s serving the six-month sentence. Dawydiak was formally sentenced last year, and must complete a three-year supervised release term after he is out of prison.
Before he was sentenced, Dawydiak wrote a letter of apology to the court. Federal prosecutors accepted his apology, writing in a sentencing memorandum that his regret seems sincere and that he backed up his words with action. Dawydiak, for years, lied to clients about what their cars sold for and pocketed the difference, on top of evading payroll taxes, according to prosecutors.
But after his scheme was discovered, he worked with the federal government to track down exactly how much fraud he was responsible for, which ultimately came out to a restitution tab of roughly $541,864, court records show.
Dawydiak also agreed there were between 100 to 500 victims, but couldn’t be sure due to a lack of record keeping, prosecutors said.
In his apology letter to the court, Dawydiak wrote that he “deeply regret(s)” the harm he caused and that he’s done making excuses for his actions.
“For years, I told myself that dishonesty was just part of the industry I worked in, but that is no excuse, and there is no justification for what I did,” he wrote, later adding, “I think I have become a better person and a better businessman because of that experience.”
In a defense sentencing memo, Dawydiak’s lawyer praised him for building his business, Cars Dawydiak, which started from operating in a small taxi stand to employing 20 people in its Marin County showroom. Ironically, his journey as a businessman started after he was arrested at age 17 for auto theft and turned his life around, his lawyer wrote.
Dawydiak faced a maximum of 20 years in prison for the mail fraud charge and five years for the tax evasion. His business promised clients they’d earn more money working with him than trying to sell a vehicle on their own and offered “complete control” over the price they wanted for their car.