DETROIT – Norm Dehko, of Orchard Lake, originally was charged with dozens of counts including insurance fraud.
After the Local 4 Defenders exposed years of delay in his case, a judge decided it should go to trial. On Tuesday, Dehko, 38, pleaded guilty to the fraud he was taking part in.
"We made a claim for payment knowing it contained false information and I did so intending to deceive the insurance company," Dehko said.
It took years to finally hear his confession.
"In the claim we agreed to say the damages to her car resulted in an accident when it did not occur the way we said," Dehko said.
The fraud ultimately cost those with car insurance.
The case made headlines -- an organized crime ring cracked in Detroit. Dehko was the accused ring leader. He was charged with 44 counts including racketeering, insurance fraud, false pretenses and forgery for his part in submitting a series of suspicious insurance claims originating from the Somerset Auto Body Shop, an auto repair facility on John R. Street in Detroit.
"Me and other insured individuals made a claim to an insurance company to cover costs of repairs to our vehicles that had damage to them," he said. "That was a three-way collision . There was no three-way collision. The claim was false. We made it in order to deceive the insurance company to pay a claim."
Dehko only pleaded guilty to three counts of insurance fraud conspiracy. The judge said he would get five years probation with the first seven months to be served in jail.
He will be officially sentenced on Feb. 8.
Dehko could have faced up to 10 years in jail if not for his guilty plea.
While serving the probation, he cannot take part in any business involving insurance claims.