Centreville's Robert Michels is having a bad summer, and it doesn't look like fall will be much better. He was sentenced Aug. 6 in Fairfax County Circuit Court to 18 months in prison for obtaining money by false pretenses, and in October he'll be sentenced for embezzlement.
Michels, 50, resides at 5218 Stoney Branch Court in the Country Club Manor community. But when he committed the crimes for which he was just sentenced, he lived at 12021 Golf Ridge Court in the Penderbrook community.
AFTER HE committed a criminal offense on Jan. 13, 2003, police charged him Oct. 2 with two counts of obtaining money by false pretenses. Another count of this crime was later added and, on June 3 of this year, he was convicted in Circuit Court on all three counts.
Michels returned to court Aug. 6, and Judge David Stitt sentenced him to a year-and-a-half total and placed him on three years post-release supervision. But he still had an embezzlement charge to answer to and, Aug. 9 in General District Court, Judge Thomas Gallihue certified this offense to the grand jury.
Last Monday, Aug. 16, the grand jury indicted Michels, and he pleaded guilty as charged, the next day, in Circuit Court. He is scheduled to be sentenced, Oct. 8, by Judge Arthur Vierreg. Police Det. James L. Reid provided details of this case in a July 5 affidavit for a search warrant to look for evidence in his home.
"Mr. Michels advertised a 1956 Ford Thunderbird for sale on e-Bay," wrote the detective. "Stuart Goldberg, who lives in Montana, won the bid. Mr. Goldberg wired Mr. Michels $28,500 on Sept. 12, 2003. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to pick up the vehicle, Mr. Goldberg contacted the Fairfax County Police Department."
Based on Goldberg's report, wrote Reid, on April 4, police arrested Michels. However, the car's whereabouts were unknown, and its vehicle, title and associated paperwork were considered evidence. Then police were tipped off about the vintage car's location.
On June 17, the detective impounded the Thunderbird from an Oakton address and learned the documents he sought were in Michels' Centreville townhouse. Reid executed the search warrant July 6, seizing a computer, plus the title, purchase agreement, registration cards, insurance I.D. cards and DMV receipts for a 1956 Ford.