Ford pleads guilty to insurance fraud

Published 11:57 pm Thursday, December 4, 2008

The former operator of Insurance Services of Dalton pleaded guilty on Thursday to four counts of insurance fraud and will serve 90 days in jail as part of a probated sentence.

Joseph Mann Ford IV was scheduled to go to trial on Monday but worked out a plea agreement, said Whitfield County district attorney Kermit McManus.

Ford was charged with 14 counts of insurance fraud after being arrested in May 2005. He could have received up to 10 years on each count but as part of the agreement was given one eight-year sentence that will include 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine (with surcharges), writing apology letters to 14 victims, agreeing to repay $50,000 in restitution on all counts and 500 hours of community service, McManus said.

“He would write a policy and not turn it in, or cancel it,” McManus said. “In some instances (the clients) were continuing to pay, for the most part, and he was pocketing the money. But the insurance underwriters took care of the customers when they figured out what was happening as a result of their investigation.”

McManus added that Ford qualified for first offender status but “didn’t ask for it and didn’t get it.”

Jim Toland, a Dalton attorney representing Ford, said he is “an honorable person.”

“I’ve known Joe a long, long time,” he said. “He got into an impossible situation and tried to do the best he could, but wasn’t able to salvage it.”

Toland said more information may be made public about what happened with the company.