A Hixson physician and a Georgia Highway Patrolman have been indicted for mail fraud.
A Grand Jury in Chattanooga on Tuesday returned the indictments against 41-year-old Dr. Robert A. Burkich, who specializes in chelation therapy.
He and his father recently started a dinner club called The Website just off Shallowford Road near I-75.
Also charged was Gregory F. Yarnell, a Georgia State Highway Patrolman. Yarnell, 39, is from Ringgold.
A third man who was indicted was identified as Yarnell's cousin, Lloyd M. Prestridge, 53, of Chattanooga.
U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick said the defendants "devised a scheme to defraud by falsifying the theft of automobiles in order to claim them as stolen for insurance purposes."
Dr. Burkich and Yarnell were charged with the theft of a 1997 Corvette. Yarnell and Prestridge were charged with the theft of a 1988 Corvette.
The indictment says that last March 24, Burkich agreed to give the 1997 Corvette to an individual in return for $1,000. It says Yarnell drove the Corvette from the Website to his home in Ringgold.
The indictment says that the next day Burkich reported to the Chattanooga Police Department that the Corvette had been stolen from the Website parking lot.
The indictment says that on March 28, Yarnell delivered the Corvette for $1,000 to agents of the Tennnessee Highway Patrol working undercover.
That same day, Burkich filed a claim on the car with Farmers Insurance Group.
Authorities said Burkich claimed the Corvette had only 27,054 miles, when it actually had approximately 110,000 miles.
The indictment says Yarnell delivered to the same undercover agents in Soddy-Daisy a 1988 Corvette on April 23.
Prestridge reported the 1988 Corvette as stolen from Hamilton Place Mall and filed a claim on it to State Farm Insurance.
The case was investigated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Asst. U.S. Atty. Gary Humble.
The maximum penalty for conviction of mail fraud is five years on each count and a $250,000 fine.
If convicted on both counts, Yarnell faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Burkich and Prestridge, if convicted, each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The Dalton office of the Georgia Highway Patrol said Yarnell until recently was still assigned to that office but had not worked in over a year due to a work-related injury.
The trio made an initial appearance before federal magistrate Bill Carter here Thursday afternoon and posted $10,000 bond each.
Their arraignment is set for next Friday (Sept. 7) at 9 a.m.