WE ARE GOING TO SEE LESS OF THE LESTERS
Family of four all found guilty in insurance fraud, arson scheme
By EMILY RICE Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD, WV —
Four family members from southern W.Va. were found guilty Wednesday on charges related to arson and an insurance fraud scheme.
According to a press release from United States Attorney for the southern district of W.Va., Michael Stuart, a federal jury in Charleston returned guilty verdicts following a five day trial before Senior United States District Judge David A. Faber.
“The jury found Windel Lester, 67, his ex-wife Georgetta Lester Kenney, 42, and Windel Lester’s sons, James “Punkin” Lester, 48 and Greg Lester, 41, guilty of various charges related to an arson and insurance fraud scheme,” Stuart said in a press release.
The West Virginia Insurance Commission, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the West Virginia State Police conducted the investigation.
Between April 2012 and January 2016, Stuart said the defendants participated three separate but interlocking schemes involving arson, mail and wire fraud and money laundering and were found guilty of intentionally setting fire to overly-insured houses they owned in Mercer County, Cabell County and Wyoming County, according to Stuart.
Stuart said Windel Lester was found guilty of 17 felony charges and faces 340 years imprisonment. James “Punkin” Lester was found guilty of 23 felony charges and faces 475 years imprisonment. Georgetta Lester Kenney was found guilty of seven felony charges and faces 140 years imprisonment. Greg Lester was found guilty of four felony charges and faces 80 years imprisonment.
Sentencing hearings for the defendants are scheduled for December 20.
However, the four family members were not the only ones involved. According to the press release, Dudley Bledsoe, Ricky Gleason and James Browning all pled guilty and cooperated in the prosecution of the Lester family.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the verdict,” Stuart said. “Insurance fraud and arson are serious matters that cause insurance premiums to be inflated, the destruction of property, and the very real risk that good folks could die as a result. I applaud the excellent work of the investigators in this case, as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Phil Wright and Greg McVey, and the rest of my team. We appreciate the attention of the jury in this matter.”
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Criminal activity is allegedly a family affair for four Mercer County residents indicted on federal charges this week.
A grand jury indicted a man, his two sons and his ex-wife on Nov. 14 after federal prosecutors alleged they burned down two homes in Mercer and Cabell counties and pocketed more than $550,000 in insurance claims.
Windel Lester, his ex-wife, Georgetta Lester, and his sons Gregory A. Lester and James Edward Lester, were named in a 28-count indictment that included charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy and use of arson to commit mail and wire fraud.
All four of the Lesters were booked at the Western Regional Jail Wednesday, and Georgetta Lester had posted bond and was released from the jail Thursday afternoon.
No bond was set for James Lester, who goes by ‘Punkin’, or Windel Lester, who is the owner of Lester’s Home Center and Lester Mobile Home Sales, Inc., in Ikes Fork in Wyoming County, according to the indictment.
Windel Lester also is on the board of directors of a bank in McDowell County, which isn’t named in the indictment.
Two other men, Dudley Bledsoe and Ricky Gleason, were named in the indictment as helping in the scheme, but they were not facing federal charges as of the time the indictment was filed.
According to the indictment filed by U.S. Attorney Eumi L. Choi, the Lesters received $556,135.68 in the scheme.
The Lesters and the men purchased vacant properties, established insurance policies for them, burned down the properties using candle oil from Lester’s Home Center, and submitted false insurance claims before sharing in the profits, the indictment states.
The insurance claims were supported by receipts forged from Lester’s Home Center, according to the indictment.
After receiving the insurance money, they laundered the money through at least two banks in southern West Virginia, one of which was the bank that included Windel Lester on its board, according to the indictment.
Choi said in the indictment that the fires were started with unscented candle oil from Lester’s Home Center because the defendants believed it would be undetectable.
The Lesters and Bledsoe fraudulently received $290,000 for burning down a property at 101 Smokeless Road, Matoaka, in Mercer County in December 2012, the indictment states.
In June 2013, a fire was set to a property at 3542 Norwood Road, Huntington, and the Lesters and Ricky Gleason claimed $260,000 from fraudulent insurance claims, according to the indictment.
Each person was charged in the indictment as follows:
Windell Lester, 66: Four counts of wire fraud; 14 counts of mail fraud; four counts of unlawful monetary transactions; two counts of arson conspiracy; and one count each of use of fire to commit mail fraud; use of fire to commit mail fraud; and conspiracy to launder monetary transactions.
James Edward Lester, 47: Four counts of wire fraud; 14 counts of mail fraud; two counts of arson conspiracy; and one count each of use of fire to commit mail and wire fraud; use of fire to commit mail fraud; conspiracy to launder monetary transactions; and unlawful monetary transactions.
Gregory A. Lester, 40: Five counts of mail fraud; two counts of unlawful monetary transactions; and one count each of arson conspiracy and use of fire to commit mail fraud.
Georgetta Lester, 41: Four counts of wire fraud; 14 counts of mail fraud; and one count each of conspiracy to launder monetary transactions and unlawful monetary transactions.