– Hanson pleads guilty

Jamestown (CSi) Brian Lee Hanson, owner of Budget Auto Sales & Service in Jamestown, and a repair business in Jamestown pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges in November, in Southeast District Court.

He was charged with improper business practices one count of usury and one count of violating the retail installment contract statute.

Hanson pleaded guilty to usury, a Class B misdemeanor, and violating the retail installment contract statute, a Class A misdemeanor.

The guilty plea was part of a plea bargain arrangement that dismissed 60 other misdemeanor charges related to violations of retail installment contracts with customers of Hanson’s business.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the two charges, Stutsman County Assistant State’s Attorney Troy LeFevre agreed to drop 30 counts of usury and 30 counts of violating the retail installment contract statute.

In one of the 31 usury cases brought against him, Hanson was charging a customer a 10 percent monthly interest rate on a loan he made for the customer. It translates to a 120 percent annual interest rate. The North Dakota usury law limits the annual interest rate on a loan to 5 1/2 percent as reflected by the average rate of interest payable on U.S. Treasury bills maturing in six months.

Court documents, show that Judge Thomas E. Merrick sentenced Hanson to serve one year and a month in the Stutsman County Correctional Center with the time suspended. Hanson was ordered to pay $6,256 in court costs, fees and restitution, paying the full amount on December. 4th.

The maximum penalty for a Class A misdemeanor is one year in prison and a $3,000 fine. The maximum penalty for a Class B misdemeanor is 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine.