The Texas hot-rod shop owner who turned customers’ dream builds into a years-long fraud has finally heard his punishment: a 60-year prison sentence that treats his conduct more like serial theft than a business dispute. For you, whether you own a classic car or simply rely on a neighborhood mechanic, the case is a stark reminder of how trust in a small shop can be weaponized when no one is watching closely enough.

Prosecutors described a pattern that stretched over years, with customers handing over irreplaceable vintage vehicles and large sums of cash only to discover their cars had been sold off, stripped, or quietly shuffled between storage lots. The court’s decision to stack decades behind bars signals that what happened in this hot-rod garage was not a misunderstanding over timelines, but a calculated scheme that left dozens of victims and more than $498,000 in losses.

How a trusted hot-rod shop became a criminal enterprise

You are supposed to be able to walk into a specialty garage, talk through an engine swap or full restoration, and leave believing your car is in good hands. In this case, Investigators said Finley built exactly that kind of confidence, presenting himself as a vintage and hot-rod expert who could modernize classic cars with updated powertrains and custom work. Over time, his business shifted locations, and Investigators later found that Finley’s operation frequently moved customers’ vehicles between storage lots without telling the owners, a pattern that made it harder for anyone to track where their cars actually were and helped conceal that some had already been stolen or sold off, according to Investigators.

Authorities said the unraveling began when customers finally pushed past excuses and went to law enforcement. After receiving complaints, the Galveston County Sheriff Office opened an investigation and discovered that Finley had not only failed to complete promised work, but had stolen more than $498,000 from customers between 2018 and 2023, a figure that Jan Officials cited as they laid out the scale of the fraud to the court and to the public, according to Authorities.

The pitch: modern engines, classic bodies, and broken promises

If you have ever priced a modern LS engine swap into a 1969 Camaro or a fuel-injected crate motor for a 1955 Bel Air, you know how quickly the numbers climb. According to the court, Finley leaned into that dream, advertising that he would install modern engines into classic automobiles and presenting his shop as the place where you could finally make your restomod fantasy real. Jan According to the case record, customers were told their cars would come back with fresh drivetrains and updated components, but the work rarely matched the pitch, a gap that became central to the prosecution’s narrative, as reflected in According.

However, the complaints that eventually reached law enforcement painted a very different picture. However, customers began to report that the engine swaps were not getting completed at all, that their cars sat untouched for months or years, and that calls and messages went unanswered. Eventually, investigators from the Galveston Co followed the trail from these stalled projects to missing titles and vehicles that had been moved or sold without permission, a progression that turned what looked like bad customer service into a clear pattern of criminal conduct, according to Eventually.

Inside the courtroom: 28 victims and a 60-year sentence

By the time the case reached trial, the story was no longer about a single botched restoration, but about a pattern that prosecutors argued victimized an entire community of enthusiasts. During a week-long jury trial, 28 victims testified about their experiences with Finley, describing how they had trusted him with prized vehicles, from fully numbers-matching muscle cars to family heirloom pickups, and how they were misled repeatedly about the status of their projects, according to During. Many of those owners told the court they had sunk savings, retirement funds, or insurance payouts into builds that never materialized, only to learn later that their cars had been moved, stripped, or sold without their knowledge, a betrayal that went far beyond a missed deadline.

Jan Classic Car Restoration Shop Owner in Texas Gets 60 Years in Prison for Theft and Fraud became the shorthand description of the outcome, but the sentence was not a headline flourish, it was a reflection of how the judge weighed the damage. A Texas man received a 60-year prison term after the court heard how the thefts and lies stacked up over time, with Years of deception and a pattern of conduct that fit squarely within Prison for Theft and Fraud under Texas law, according to Texas Gets. For you, the length of that sentence underscores that courts are willing to treat long-running automotive fraud as a serious property crime, not a civil dispute to be shrugged off.

What the victims lost when the shop doors finally shut

To understand why the punishment landed so hard, you have to look at what the victims actually lost. A man took his classic car to a repair shop in Texas to have it restored, expecting to see it again in a few months with fresh paint and a rebuilt drivetrain. Instead, five years later he discovered that the mechanic had sold it and disappeared with what reports describe as roughly half a million dollars’ worth of vintage vehicles and parts spread across multiple customers, a pattern that only came into focus when a Texas judge handed down the sentence and the full scope of how cars were moved between storage lots became public, according to Texas. For owners who had spent years hunting down original trim, rare engines, or rust-free shells, the loss was not just financial, it was the erasure of a personal history built around those cars.

Investigators discovered that Finley stole more than $498,000 from customers from 2018 to 2023, a figure that Jan Investigators and Officials tied directly to deposits, parts money, and vehicles that never came back, according to $498,000. When confronted by his victims, reports say Finley often offered new excuses or promised that an engine swap or restoration was almost done, a pattern that kept some customers from going to the police until it was too late. For you, the lesson is blunt: if a shop stops answering calls, moves your car without notice, or cannot show clear progress after taking large sums, you are not being impatient, you are seeing the same red flags that these owners wish they had acted on sooner.

How you can protect your own classic from the same fate

Even if you never cross paths with someone like Finley, the safeguards that could have protected his victims are worth building into your own projects. Before you hand over a 1970 Chevelle or a 1967 Mustang, you should insist on a written work order that spells out the scope, estimated cost, and payment schedule, and you should keep the title in your name until the job is done. Jan Classic Car Restoration Shop Owner in Texas Gets 60 Years in Prison for Theft and Fraud is a reminder that you cannot rely on a handshake alone, and that Texas law, like most states, gives you more leverage when you have clear documentation of what was promised and when, according to Prison for Theft. You should also visit the shop in person regularly, photograph your car’s condition, and ask for itemized invoices that match the parts and labor you see on the floor.

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