MCKINNEY — The underling got four years in prison. The ring leader got three months in jail. Two different Collin County judges meted out two drastically different sentences in an organized crime and money laundering case that ruined a victim's business and his life.
Law enforcement has been chasing Ron Robey for more than three years. In 2013, News 8 did a story about him and his business, American Veterans Restoration and Roofing (AVRR). At the time, he was soliciting roofing customers in the devastated of West, while some of his employees -- military veterans -- had gone unpaid.
Consumers like to help veterans, and Robey's company played on that patriotism. Robey himself claimed to be a veteran, but his 1997 discharge papers from the U.S. Air Force show he was put out of the service early with misconduct on his record.
While notoriety around AVRR was percolating, court proceedings now show Robey was demolishing the business and reputation of Jason Earnhardt, another roofer.
Earnhardt's roofing company, Earnhardt Restoration and Roofing, is now dead in the water, and Jason Earnhardt is broke. Earnhardt won a $1.6 million civil judgment against Robey in Dallas County, finding that Robey masqueraded as Earnhardt, formed a company with the same name, and executing transactions with customers, bankers and the public as Jason Earnhardt.
Robey and two of his cohorts were indicted on criminal charges in Collin County.
Earlier this month jurors found Robey and his associate Brian White guilty of organized crime and money laundering. Earlier, another jury had found J.D. Roberts, their associate, guilty of the same charges.
Roberts got four years in prison.
At a sentencing hearing Friday for Robey, Collin County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Ashworth asked Judge Angela Tucker for 10 years in prison each for Robey and White.
"Not only did they steal the money, they broke into his (Earnhardt's) office and stole company files and customer lists, everything that they had," Ashworth said.
But on Friday, Judge Tucker gave both Robey and White suspended sentences, and tacked on 180 days in county jail for Robey. That means Robey can be back at his new company, American Veterans Fencing, in a matter of weeks.
"In the time that I've been in this division, this is the most egregious theft I've seen," Ashworth told News 8 after the sentencing hearing. When asked about the disparity in the sentencing, he declined to comment.
