Flint, Michigan Man Gets Fine, Probation for Seinfeld-esque 10 Cent Bottle Deposit Scam
What's the deal with that? A 70-year old man from Flint convicted of scamming the State of Michigan's bottle return program out of several thousand dollars now faces punishment.
Seventy year-old John Custer Woodfill from Flint had a unique way of funding his retirement. In a plot straight out of a 1996 episode of Seinfeld ("The Bottle Deposit"), he bought uncrushed non-returnable soft drink cans in the state of Indiana as scrap, and immediately began returning them to Michigan to redeem the deposits.
The scam lasted 3 years, from April 2012 to 2015 and netted him more than $10K before he was caught by Michigan State Police. Woodfill pled guilty to the charges and has been sentenced to 3 years probation, 450 hours of community service and restitution of the ill gotten funds.