Dead man found off I-82 was wanted for fraud

SELAH, Wash. -- The man who died when his vehicle plunged over a cliff north of Selah was set to be sentenced Thursday in Hawaii for a large fraud scheme, authorities confirmed.

A federal judge in Hawaii on Thursday issued a bench warrant for James W. Lull, but investigators suspect that the deadly crash happened in the 24 to 48 hours before his body was discovered Thursday afternoon, more than 500 yards from Interstate 82.

Restitution in the criminal case was estimated to be more than $20 million to more than 50 victims, according to federal court records.

Lull, who authorities said had moved to the Seattle area since the investigation, had pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud after being charged last year. He faced up to 20 years in prison.

In the plea agreement, prosecutors wrote that Lull had used his position as a bank mortgage broker in Hawaii to lure investors for his own "bridge loans" and "private mortgages" starting in 2005. As a bank employee, he had access to confidential information about customers, including real estate deals.

Lull promised guaranteed returns in short time, but he had no intention of repaying the money and instead used it for his own purposes, prosecutors alleged. Investors turned over more than $30 million, prosecutors said, noting that Lull described most of those investors as creditors when he filed for personal bankruptcy in 2007.

Meanwhile, the frustrated trustee in Lull's separate bankruptcy case alleged in other court filings that Lull had apparently hidden assets and wasn't cooperating with efforts to identify those valuables.

In an April 29 article, the Honolulu Advertiser quoted sources as saying they believed Lull had been involved in thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent deals since arriving in Washington.

However, he told the bankruptcy trustee that he had no money and would need to be paid for airfare and other expenses in order to return to Hawaii to help with the civil case, according to the trustee's statement to the court.

Officials in Yakima said they were still investigating why Lull's 2007 Ford Explorer left westbound Interstate 82, traveled 200-300 feet through sagebrush, hit a fence and continued over the cliff.

Tire marks indicate the vehicle was accelerating while off the road, though the reasons for that were not clear. The man was wearing his seat belt, and investigators said they did not know whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

The crash likely happened in the 24 to 48 hours before a passing trucker reported about 1:15 p.m. Thursday that he had spotted the wreckage from the Fred Redmon bridge, Washington State Patrol officials said. The bridge is about five miles north of Selah.

Although officials considered using a military helicopter to recover the body, firefighters from Yakima County's multi-agency technical rescue team ended up carrying out the bodydue to safety concerns about the flight, county Coroner Jack Hawkins said.

Army investigators are taking over the autopsy because the vehicle landed on the Yakima Training Center, Hawkins said.

The wreckage will be recovered later by a military team.