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Man says he faced 12-year prison sentence after being accused of stealing rental car he returned years earlier

Home> News> US News

Published 11:29 18 Oct 2023 GMT+1

Man says he faced 12-year prison sentence after being accused of stealing rental car he returned years earlier

A man is facing a 12-year prison sentence for something he says he didn't do.

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

A man is facing up to 12 years behind bars for something he claims he didn't do.

Hertz has long accused people of stealing its cars, with the car rental company having to pay out $168 million last year to customers it wrongly indicted.

The large sum covered more than 350 people who were falsely accused.

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While Hertz reached a settlement last year, the apparent false accusations are still ongoing - with ex marine Blake Gober also claiming he'd been falsely accused.

Gober rented a vehicle from the company in Morgantown, West Virginia, back in 2019, and says he went on to return it to a Hertz branch at Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport.

He claims that there was no one on sight when he returned the car, so left he keys in the car at the drop off location.

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Almost three years later, Gober's life took a dramatic turn when he was pulled over in Louisville, Kentucky (where he currently lives) by police for speeding to then be arrested.

Gober said his week in jail was 'hell'.
CBS Mornings

"They pulled me behind the vehicle and placed me in handcuffs and said that I had a warrant out for my arrest out of West Virginia," he told CBS Mornings.

Gober was then held in jail for seven days - just weeks before he was set to tie the knot to now-wife Erica.

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"It was hell. It was the worst. Like, I wouldn't wish to wish that on anybody," he said of the ordeal.

Then, in January, Gober was indicted for theft of a rental vehicle and grand larceny and now faces 12 years behind bars.

While Gober's defense attorney has noted that hundreds of other people have been wrongly accused of stealing cars from Hertz, the global car rental company has stood by its claim and insist that Gober's one-day rental ended up with him keeping the car for three months.

Hertz has stood by its claim against Gober.
Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

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A statement issued to CBS by Hertz read: "The facts remain unchanged: Mr. Gober rented a car from Hertz for one day. He kept the car for over three months without payment. Hertz reached out repeatedly to Mr. Gober regarding its car, including by email, texts, phone calls, and certified mail.

"Mr. Gober ignored all of Hertz's outreach, save one phone call during which he hung up on a Hertz representative when asked to return the vehicle. Ultimately, Hertz reported its car stolen."

Gober has insisted that he never received any correspondence from them, however, as they were using an old address and wrong phone numbers.

While Gober still faces several years behind bars, the Monongalia County prosecutor in charge of the case has filed to dismiss the charges against him.

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“The state has lost confidence in the reliability of the information provided by the victim in the case,” the prosecutor said in the filing.

UNILAD has contacted Hertz for comment.

Featured Image Credit: CBS/X/@ebgober
Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

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@niamhshackleton

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