Windsor auto body owner sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for fraud

A judge on Tuesday sentenced the owner of a classic car and body shop in Windsor to more than 15 years in prison for defrauding dozens of customers out of approximately $850,000.

Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Robert Laforge sentenced Christopher Miranda, 43, to 15 years and four months in state prison. Miranda had pleaded no contest in September to 13 counts of felony grand theft and one count of identify theft.

Miranda and his wife, Pamela Malfa, took down payments, often more than $10,000, from clients to refurbish cars at their West Coast Auto Craft business, but the body shop never completed the work, prosecutors said. The fraud continued over a period of 10 years.

When they were arrested in May, police officers found more than 30 classic cars in a Cloverdale field that had little to no work conducted on them.

“This was an extensive investigation by our office that uncovered dozens of victims. Although we have been able to return over 40 vehicles to their owners, the financial harm caused by this defendant in the community is significant. We are pleased that the court imposed the negotiated prison sentence today,” District Attorney Jill Ravitch said in a statement. Malfa, 36, was sentenced on Nov. 14 to 180 days in jail and five years of probation, and ordered to pay restitution.

Officers discovered during the course of their investigation that Miranda had lied on a welfare application, receiving payments of more than $10,000.

Prosecutors later charged him with one count of welfare fraud, to which he entered a “no contest” plea on Tuesday.

Laforge ordered him to an additional three-year prison term on that charge, which will run concurrently with the other sentence.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.