A Utah car dealer is facing 15 felony charges in Wyoming after state investigators uncovered what they describe as a trail of forged signatures, fake notary stamps and dead vehicle owners.
Court records show Scott Keith Pryor, owner of The Good Car Dealer in Salt Lake City, has been charged with 15 counts of falsification, alteration, forgery or counterfeiting of vehicle title documents.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
A Laramie County judge found probable cause June 4 to support an arrest warrant, and as of Friday afternoon, the warrant hand’t been served on Pryor.
The investigation centers on 15 hail-damaged Wyoming vehicles, but Wyoming Department of Transportation investigator Shane Fox wrote in an affidavit that Pryor bought 292 vehicles worth nearly $2 million through Copart auctions during the previous 12 months.
At the center of the case is an investigation by Fox, a senior investigator with WYDOT's Compliance and Investigation Section.
Fox wrote that the case began after employees in the Laramie County Clerk's Office noticed more than a dozen duplicate title applications they described as "very odd" and suspicious.
Hailstorm Cars And Missing Titles
The vehicles all trace back to a massive August 2025 Cheyenne hailstorm that caused widespread damage.
Fox wrote that Pryor bought 15 Wyoming vehicles through Copart auctions in Colorado after insurance companies took possession of them following hail-damage claims.
Many of the vehicles were sold as "parts only," meaning they came with bills of sale rather than traditional titles.
Vehicles sold as parts-only units typically bring far less money than vehicles carrying clear titles. A clean title can dramatically increase a vehicle's resale value, the affidavit says.
Fox wrote that Pryor later submitted duplicate title applications through Laramie County in an attempt to obtain Wyoming titles for the vehicles.
The applications all claimed the original titles had been lost.
Cheyenne auto dealer Dallas Tyrrell said dealers across southeast Wyoming are still dealing with the aftermath of the historic hailstorm.
The Dead Woman
One of Pryor's applications involved a Wyoming woman who died July 12, 2025, nearly three weeks before the Aug. 1 storm.
"It would have been impossible for (the woman) to sign the duplicate title application," Fox wrote.
The duplicate title application bearing her signature was dated March 5, 2026.
The investigator tracked down notaries and vehicle owners, the affidavit says. Several notaries allegedly told investigators the stamps were not theirs, the signatures were not theirs and they had never signed the documents in question.
Several vehicle owners also told investigators they never signed duplicate title applications.
In one case, Fox wrote that he met personally with a U.S. Air Force member stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.
The service member reviewed the paperwork and said he had never signed the application. The same pattern appears again and again, documented throughout an 11-page criminal affidavit.
A Facebook Connection
As investigators dug deeper, the trail led to a company called Tennessee Titles, the affidavit says.
Pryor allegedly told investigators he found the company through Facebook and paid about $150 per title application, Fox wrote.
The people he dealt with were identified only as "Rashard" and "Miss Catherine," and primarily communicated through Facebook Messenger.
When Fox asked to see proof, Pryor reportedly said the computer used for those messages had been replaced, and the records were no longer accessible.
Pryor could not provide documentation establishing the legitimacy of the company or proof of payment.
He did acknowledge obtaining lien releases from financial institutions and completing money orders that were mailed to the Laramie County Clerk's Office along with the duplicate title applications, the affidavit says.
By then, investigators had begun contacting vehicle owners scattered across multiple states.
Forged Names, Forged Stamps
Fox wrote that one Colorado notary employed by Copart reviewed paperwork bearing her name and told investigators neither the stamp nor signature were hers. A Utah notary allegedly said the same thing.
Another notary denied notarizing multiple applications tied to the investigation, Fox wrote in the affidavit.
Several vehicle owners denied authorizing the documents.
One business executive told investigators a person listed on a title application had no affiliation with the company and no authority to sign documents on its behalf.
Fox wrote that he became convinced numerous signatures had been forged.
The affidavit details vehicle after vehicle, owner after owner and notary after notary, each producing similar results, the affidavit says.
Why Titles Matter
The allegations may sound like little more than paperwork fraud, but Tyrrell said vehicle titles can dramatically affect a vehicle's value and whether buyers can insure, finance or legally operate it.
A clean title is every bit as important as what's under the hood, he confirmed.
Tyrrell said reputable dealers carefully examine a vehicle's title history before offering it for sale.
"We see victims to scams like this all the time," he said.
Tyrrell said consumers should work with licensed, reputable dealers and pay close attention to a vehicle's title history before making a purchase.
"It's so important to use somebody that has a license and is reputable," he said, adding that often these scamsters don't get prosecuted at all because the schemes are comlex.
Long Road Ahead
Fox believes the duplicate title applications allowed vehicles that had moved through the insurance and salvage system to re-enter the marketplace with Wyoming titles.
He wrote that some of the vehicles had previously been sold through Copart as salvage or parts-only units.
The affidavit alleges Pryor later sold the vehicles to buyers in Utah with unbranded titles, and at a "nice profit."
Fox declined to answer questions about the case and did not respond to additional requests for comment.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
