Sam Walker convicted

[bruce_14]

An excerpt from the story:

"Walker was convicted of one count of deceptive business practices, five counts of theft by deception and five counts of theft by deception for receiving stolen property for taking $256,016 from five customers."

Full story: 
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1-5walkermay19,0,5895955.story

[gumpy]

Well, that's a start, although somewhat surprising.

Must be some concilation to you, but I suspect you're not holding your breath about getting your money back, since there's probably none to give back.

[Pete]

Bruce

I hope the trip home brings bigger smiles.
I know the one smile you really wanted to see and you got your wish.

Be well

[darrenayres]

I came real close to referring a friend to Walker. I became aware of Walker after seeing their website where they lengthened a MC-9 and put in a different engine. I contacted them about doing the conversion on a passenger bus and was told they didn't have FMCSA approval for that but they would make me a great deal on motorhomes--buy one get one at half price! That's when I began my research and discovered that Sam was having a small problem.

I'm happy with the conviction. I really liked his premise of converting older coaches but not the deceptive way he tried to make it happen.

Darren

[gumpy]

Wonder if his website will be taken down.

Would be interesting for someone to contact them about doing a conversion to see what kind of sales pitch they'd receive. I suspect it'll be business as usual for him.

[coachcrazy]

they talking about this guy? http://www.walkercoach.com/main1.shtml

[darrenayres]

Yeah, Crazy. That's the scoundrel.

Darren

[disabledhunter]

I was checking this out after almost 10 years after. I think i and 3 other parties were the omly folks to actually get my money back from this creep. Now that i look back, it seems so long ago, but brings up alot of bad memories. However ive learned alot from this experience, i feel sorry for the folks he stole money from to pay me.

[disabledhunter]

At that time i was Bruce_14, since then i changed my name, so i guess im not really a newbie, since ive lived in my bus for over ten years.

[dukegrad98]

I remember seeing that guy's website way back when I was originally researching -- I recall it in particular for its focus on the double-decker Neoplan buses.  It doesn't look like there are any updates after 2008 or so, but that site is still up and running.  The original link about his prosecution is dead, so I didn't get to read the whole history. 

Cheers, John

[boogiethecat]

Current link to the old story:

http://articles.mcall.com/2006-11-17/news/3699662_1_customers-ritter-motor-coaches

[disabledhunter]

Hey Boogie; I don't know where you found this link, but thank you for posting. This pretty much sums it all up, i can't tell you how many folks i had contacted through this forum. Wish i knew then ,what i know now about this con, but as the saying goes hindsight is 20/20. I tracked this guy like a dog for years, sending letters to numerous authorities, it finally paid off, but would never want to go through something like this again. So many folks have been taken by this guy, so even i was surprised to get my money back, unfortunately it was other peoples money.

[LowTide]

I think 6 months is just a slap on the hand....he needs to spend several years behind bars and every dime he makes when he gets out goes to the people he ripped.

I have 0 tolerance for crooks and thieves!

[dukegrad98]

What happened to the guy that posted here who supposedly bought his business and was going to rebuilt it?  Dausch or something?  Just a matter of curiosity.  Search and you'll find a five-page or so thread about him -- edit, here's a link:

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=10871.0

Looks like he hasn't logged in since July, 2009.

The restitution that Walker paid -- however he got the funds -- appears to have saved him a much longer sentence.

Cheers, John

[disabledhunter]

Yes Dukegrade; that was the whole premise of getting the police involved, we knew if he was facing jail time, that he would miraculously come up with the money he owed us. However it took years for that to happen,thus giving him more time to steal from other folks.