Mobile towing company owner pleads guilty to federal charges, to be sentenced in May
Michael Cazzie Sellers, the embattled owner of the now-defunct Rapid Towing, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for Southern Alabama Thursday.
Sellers had been facing 14 counts of wire fraud and making false statements on a bankruptcy petition. Federal prosecutors had alleged that Sellers lied about his income on bankruptcy statements, including from Rapid Towing, and lied about his income in order to take advantage of coronavirus-related financial benefits.
Sellers is set to be sentenced in May. The maximum penalty for each of the counts he pleaded guilty to is 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Under the terms of Sellers’ plea agreement, he will have to make full restitution of the pandemic-related benefits he obtained, including $25,000 in unemployment benefits and a $20,000 “Revive Plus” grant.
This isn’t the end of Sellers’ legal troubles. He is also facing a civil lawsuit in Mobile County Circuit Court from the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office regarding Rapid Towing, also known as “Anytime Towing.”
The DA’s office has alleged that Sellers and his wife forced people to sign legal agreements that would absolve the towing company of legal liability, sometimes in the presence of armed employees. That case is still in the discovery phase, and Mobile County DA spokesperson Tara Zieman said Sellers’ federal conviction will have no bearing on the civil lawsuit.