Plea entered in motorcycle fraud
July 08,2006
ROSELEE PAPANDREA
DAILY NEWS STAFF
by roselee papandrea
A Norwegian man, who operated a motorcycle business in Jacksonville for three years, pleaded guilty to more than 50 fraud charges in Onslow County Superior Court Friday.
Kjell Bjerke, 49, was sentenced to 21 to 27 months in the N.C. Department of Corrections minus the 15 months he has already served. He also received a suspended sentence of 35 months to 45 months.
Superior Court Judge Charles Henry also placed him on 60 months supervised probation and ordered that he receive treatment for an injured shoulder while in the Department of Corrections.
Bjerke, a former merchant marine who owned Choppers Unlimited on Marine Boulevard and was known nationally for his custom-built motorcycles, pleaded guilty to 52 counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.
Bjerke advertised his services in national motorcycles magazines, said Assistant District Attorney Ernie Lee, who sifted through a stack of papers with the names and locations of all the people who paid Bjerke money but never received any products.
“He contracted with the victims to build these motorcycles and with the intention to deceive and defraud he accepted money and didn’t comply with the agreement,” Lee said.
Bjerke agreed to make custom-built bikes or parts for 52 customers who live in 28 states as well as Canada and South Africa, Lee said.
Before sentencing, Bjerke, who has a heavy Norwegian accent, told the judge he didn’t have anything to say. His attorney, Walter Paramore, explained Bjerke’s background to Henry.
“My client is a gifted and brilliant man,” Paramore said.
Bjerke was a master captain for Golar LNG and piloted vessels loaded with liquid hydrogen and other combustible fuels. In 1998, Bjerke started building custom motorcycles in Mexico and developed a relationship with two builders in Jacksonville.
In 2003, he resigned his commission in the merchant marines, moved to Jacksonville and started Choppers Unlimited. At some point, Bjerke ran into business problems and got behind in production, Paramore said in a sentencing memorandum.
Bjerke, who was anxious to get out of the Onslow County jail and get to another Department of Corrections facility, will have to return for a hearing to determine how much restitution he needs to pay.
Lee said the amount of restitution listed on the warrants is no longer accurate because some victims received products and insurance payments from credit card companies.
To avoid returning to Onslow County, Bjerke, who taught his three cellmates in jail how to play bridge to pass the time, told Henry he didn’t need a separate restitution hearing. He said he would just pay what was listed on the warrants. Lee wanted to have the hearing.
“The state has a duty to make sure the restitution is fair between the state and defendant,” Lee said.
In his sentencing memo, Paramore said Bjerke feels remorseful he hasn’t been able to return the money paid to him.
“But this was not the quick scheme that we see where someone comes in quickly and defrauds folks and leaves,” Paramore said. “This is a situation where the business just flat went broke. There were frames in production and purchasers who could not get the product they ordered.”
When Bjerke was arrested in April 2005, he was heading to the Raleigh-Durham International Airport with a ticket to Oslo, Norway. Jacksonville police were notified of Bjerke’s whereabouts by the Cary Police Department after Bjerke reported that he had been beaten and robbed.
Cary police did a background check on Bjerke and found unserved warrants in Onslow County.
Bjerke’s decision to plead guilty rather than wait for a jury trial will save the state money. Once Bjerke is released he will be on probation in Wisconsin where he already has a job lined up, Paramore said.
“Kjell Bjerke has had the courage to come into open court and enter his plea and accept the consequences of this deal,” Paramore said. “He has taken a tremendous beating on the Internet and on blog pages that have been produced about him since his arrest. He is like the man who is injured and prone and is kicked over and over again. He wants to end this and does this now by his plea.”
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