Midwest Choppers' Miyler gets his

GateHouse News Service
Posted Jan 22, 2010 @ 09:23 PM
PEORIA — Chip Miyler had a dream of owning a custom motorcycle shop and as such, he shared a passion with other chopper enthusiasts who paid tens of thousands for him to build them a one-of-a-kind ride.

But on Friday, that dream wound Miyler, 41, in prison for just shy of three and a half years on fraud charges. The former Galesburg and Creve Coeur resident claimed he never intended to defraud nearly two dozen people who represented $1 million in orders that were never completed or even started.

Rather, he painted himself as a someone who chased a dream but didn’t pay attention to the finer details of business until it was too late. A downturn in the economy in 2005, he said, led to business crumbling.

But U.S. District Judge Joe B. McDade found that incredible. While he repeatedly told Miyler he was a good person who had led a relatively productive life, at some point, the judge noted, he knew something was wrong.

“Instead of acknowledging that he needed to let go of his dream, he chose to destroy the dreams of others. That was a selfish choice,” the judge said Friday during Miyler’s sentencing hearing in federal court.

McDade ordered Miyler to repay slightly more than $1 million in restitution to the victims.