Largest U.S. Honda Dealer Pleads Guilty To Mail Fraud

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Rick Hendrick, one of the nation's biggest auto dealers and owner of a top stock-car racing team, pleaded guilty to mail fraud today in a case in which he was accused of making hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to American Honda executives.

The mail-fraud charge was one of 15 against Hendrick in a 1996 federal indictment that alleged a conspiracy to build his dealership empire by buying favorite treatment from the auto supplier.

Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 10 to 16 months and a $250,000 fine and agreed to allow Hendrick, 48, to serve the time in home detention because he is being treated for leukemia.