Jackson, MS—Stan Harris, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, and Frederick T. Brink, Special Agent in Charge of the Jackson Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that James Wynn Threatt, former owner of Metro Mitsubishi and Metro Hyundai in Jackson, appeared in court today on federal charges that he committed fraud relating to both car dealerships. Threatt was charged in a two-count Criminal Information with wire fraud and commission of a federal offense while on pretrial release for another federal offense. Threatt appeared at 2:30 p.m. today before United States Magistrate Judge James C. Sumner for an initial appearance on the Information. He waived indictment and was given home detention with electronic monitoring.

Threatt previously pled guilty on October 17, 2008, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. While out on federal bond for that charge, Threatt committed fraud by obtaining fraudulent loans for cars in inventory at both Metro Mitsubishi and Metro Hyundai and also by failing to notify and pay lenders for cars that had been sold from these dealerships. The investigation revealed fraud of between two million dollars and six million dollars.

As with all defendants, Threatt is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.