Four members of a West Virginia family have been convicted on charges related to a scheme to burn down houses for insurance money.
Windel Lester, 67, his ex-wife Georgetta Lester Kennedy, 42, and Windel Lester’s sons, James “Punkin” Lester, 42, and Greg Lester, 41, were found guilty of various charges related to the scheme, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the verdict,” said US Attorney Mike Stuart. “Insurance fraud and arson are serious matters that cause insurance premiums to be inflated, the destruction of property, and the very real risk that good folks could die as a result.”
Windel Lester was found guilty of 17 felony charges and faces up to 340 years in prison. James “Punkin” Lester was found guilty of 23 felony charges and faces up to 475 years in prison. Georgetta Lester Kenney was found guilty of seven felony charges and faces up to 140 years’ imprisonment. Greg Lester, convicted of four felony charges, faces up to 80 years. Sentencing hearings are scheduled for December.
Between April of 2012 and January of 2016, the Lester family and others participated in three separate but related schemes involving arson, mail and wire fraud and money laundering, according to prosecutors. They insured houses for amounts “greatly exceeding their value and the value of any contents,” the US Attorney’s Office said. The houses were then burned in order to collect the insurance proceeds.
