RV dealer gets 20 years in prison for ripping off customers

The lives of 29 RV owners have been harmed and the man responsible is facing the music. An RV dealer gets 20 years in prison having been found guilty of selling the victims’ rigs on consignment, and never paying. Last week Ruben Bernt made an impassioned plea for mercy—and got none.

Consignment: Left rig, rig sold, never got paid

Bernt ran the Mac RV Sales dealership in McMinnville, Oregon. In 2020 and 2021, he offered to consign at least 29 RVs at his Highway 18 dealership. In most of those cases, the victims say they signed a consignment contract, left the rig, then later found out the rig had been sold, but they never received a dime.

It wasn’t the RV dealer’s first RV ripoff rodeo. Oregon’s DMV sanctioned Bernt for not paying a consigner for a sold rig within 10 days. The agency suspended his sales license for three years in March 2021. But the rodeo came to an end in an Oregon courtroom when the judge passed her sentence.

RV dealer gets 20 years in prison

After hearing the statements of about a dozen victims, and the state’s recommendation of a 240-month term in state prison, the judge did just that. The defense attorney argued if Ruben Bernt had murdered someone, he would likely face a sentence of 25 years—only a year longer for murder. Judge Jennifer Chapman had a response to that one.

“That’s one decision and 25 years,” Judge Chapman responded. “What we have here is a situation where you [Bernt] made no fewer than 29 decisions, all with pretty significant impacts.” She added, “Choices have consequences, and sometimes those choices have tragic consequences,” Chapman said. “The choices you made, Mr. Bernt, impacted not just your life, but your family’s life, and it impacted the lives of at least 60 to 75 people in our communities.”

“Property crime” does damage to human lives

Impact, indeed. The victim statements told sad tales of how Bernt’s actions brought plenty of damage to human lives.

One couple who consigned with Bernt said their trust in humanity had been shaken. Speaking for himself and his wife, Joanne, Marvin Penrose testified, “We have always been trusting and happy people.” But that changed. “But now we are on the edge regarding anyone. We are still very stressed and overwhelmed from the deceit and theft. It is hard to find motivation in daily tasks and everyday joys we like to do.” The couple had to juggle their retirement finances, were late on payments because of the debacle, and found their credit affected because of it.

Other victims brought out how their health, both physically and emotionally, had been negatively impacted by the RV dealer’s actions. Some had to delay their retirements, others simply couldn’t retire because of the fallout.

Defending against defense attorney’s sentencing recommendations

Bernt’s attorney had asked Judge Chapman for a three-year sentence. “If he [Bernt] touched a child inappropriately, some charges are in the 70-month range; use of a child in a display in a sex act would be 70 months,” the defense maintained. “So I would ask the court to keep that in mind when imposing a sentence.”

In seeking the much longer term, the District Attorney pointed out that in 2008, Oregon voters passed Measure 57. That measure imposed mandatory minimum sentences for repeat property crime convictions, along with harsher sentences for theft of over $10,000 where the victim is 65 years or older. Many of the victims were past that age.

“The recommendation is in light of the fact that … the elder abuse statutes have taken specific interest for protection from those people who are repeatedly committing property offenses,” the defense attorney pointed out. “You heard the testimony. You heard how that impacted their lives.” Doing the math, the defense attorney showed that if Bernt received a 20-year sentence, he would essentially be serving only nine or ten months per victim.

Ruben Bernt’s tearful statement

Before passing the sentence, Judge Chapman allowed Ruben Bernt the opportunity to make a statement. A crying Bernt told his victims, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I put you guys through what you went through. Your hardship. Your losses,” Bernt said. “I’m sorry to my family, and your guys’ hardship. This was a very dark period of my life, and I just want it behind me. I want to be back with my family. I want to be working, to pay the restitution, and I can’t do that from jail.”

Judgment passed—but it may not be over

While the sentence was passed, the matter isn’t completely settled. The sentencing was delayed for nearly an hour while the judge met in chambers with attorneys from both sides. After finding Ruben Bernt guilty, one of the jurors told a victim, “I knew that was you, that’s why I felt so good about the decision I made.”

The juror was pulled in, and admitted she had made a statement similar to this, but said that it stemmed from an old memory. The juror said that when she was a child she lived next door to the victim. At that time a tragedy struck the victim’s family, and that she, the juror, always had that family’s name stuck in her head. She put it all together when the victim was called to the stand.

Judge Chapman asked if this history from her childhood might have impacted her in such a way that her decision was not impartial at the trial. “I do not believe that at all,” the juror told the judge. “And the reason I don’t believe that is because I didn’t know who they were when they walked in.”

Bernt’s defense attorney wants the guilty finding set aside. Judge Chapman pointed out that such a situation would require a “high bar” under Oregon law. The judge set a hearing date for October 17 for any motions that the defense might file regarding the matter.

Justice is an odd creature

Justice is an odd creature. Unless the case is overturned, Bernt will spend up to 20 years in an Oregon penitentiary for the crimes he committed against many victims. By the time he gets out and begins to make the nearly $700,000 in ordered restitution, many of the victims may have passed off the scene.

For tips on safe RV consignment, click here. You can read more details on the case in the Yamhill News Register. 

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