OTHER NEWS - July 12, 1994

Ex-RV Dealer Pleads Guilty to Fraud: The former owner of now-bankrupt Sunset Motors, once the leading West Coast recreational vehicle dealership, pleaded guilty to bilking three community banks out of $2.8 million. William P. Whitledge Jr., whose $50-million network of RV sales stretched to Seattle, could face 30 years in prison and a $1-million fine for pledging the same RVs as collateral to get multiple loans from more than one bank. Whitledge also obtained liens against RVs he didn’t own. Prosecutors said Whitledge was trying to prop up a company that was faltering from the recession. He is to be sentenced Oct. 17.