Spokane, Washington – During the morning hours of November 28, 2023, the U.S. Marshals Service in the Eastern District of Washington and Middle District of Florida located and apprehended William Oldham Mize, a fugitive wanted on federal charges for a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme involving false and fabricated insurance claims. Mize is alleged to have used the profits from his alleged schemes to purchase luxury automobiles, boats, along with other luxury items. Mize had been a fugitive since 2019.
Mize was indicted by a federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Washington on December 18, 2018. The federal indictment alleges numerous charges, including mail fraud, wire fraud, health care fraud, money laundering, and related conspiracy charges. According to the indictment and other court filings, Mize is alleged to have caused or participated in dozens of fake car accidents, falls, and other accidents in multiple states between September 2013 and April 2018. Mize then allegedly collected the insurance proceeds from these fabricated accidents. To date, insurers are alleged to have paid more than $6 million on Mize’s allegedly fraudulent claims.
Mize originally appeared in federal court on his indictment on January 9, 2019. He was released pending trial on conditions that included reporting to the U.S. Probation Office as often as directed, contacting his defense attorney weekly, posting an unsecured $750,000 appearance bond, surrendering his U.S. Passport, limiting his travel to Washington and Nevada, and showing up for all future court dates. Mize absconded in July 2019, and had been a fugitive ever since. During this time, Mize allegedly used a number of different aliases and had a history of frequenting various areas, including Washington, California, Florida, Mexico, Las Vegas and New Orleans.
On November 28, 2023, the U.S. Marshals apprehended Mize in Jacksonville, Florida, based on a lead that Mize was using an alias to sell a boat in the Jacksonville area. Mize was then located and arrested at a marina in central Florida. Later that day, Mize appeared before the Honorable Patricia D. Barksdale, who serves as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Florida. Judge Barksdale issued an order of removal for Mize to be extradited back to Spokane, Washington to appear in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. Below are photographs of Mize and the boat he allegedly was selling on Craigslist.org in the Jacksonville area.
The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, Vanessa R. Waldref stated, “I am grateful for the tremendous work of the United States Marshals, who work tirelessly to locate fugitives, such as Mr. Mize. As a result, Mr. Mize’s victims finally will be able to confront Mr. Mize in a court of law, and the criminal justice process against Mr. Mize finally will proceed.”
“William Mize was a fugitive who thought that because he had financial means, he could avoid apprehension and flout the rule of law,” said Craig Thayer, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Washington. “As evidenced, this is clearly not the case. No matter the resources they have or where they run to, the U.S. Marshals will never stop in the pursuit of fugitives until they have been brought to justice.”
The Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force is a U.S. Marshals-led partnership comprising federal, state and local law enforcement officers from Washington, Oregon and Alaska. The task force’s primary mission is to locate, arrest and return to the justice system the most violent and egregious federal and state fugitives. Assistant United States Attorney Dan Fruchter is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Anyone with information about a wanted fugitive is urged to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals office, the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102, or submit tips via the USMS Tips App.