Shop Owner Sentenced To 2 1/2 Years For Ct Fraud

A manager of a truck and bus transmission-repair business has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for bilking Community Transit (CT) out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ralph Woodall, 51, of Marysville, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour after he was found guilty in December of five counts of mail fraud for billing CT through the mail for transmission parts that were not installed and charging new-part prices for rebuilt and used parts.

Ed's Transmission-Allison Inc., the Everett shop co-owned by Woodall, also was convicted of five counts of mail fraud. In lieu of criminal penalties, the company was ordered yesterday to pay a substantial portion of a $825,000 settlement stemming from a civil lawsuit brought against it and others, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Westinghouse.