Feds Auctioning Luxury Cars From Pill Mill During Texas Race
AUSTIN (AP) — Federal marshals say 21 luxury and performance cars confiscated from owners of an Alabama pill mill will be auctioned in Texas during Formula One Grand Prix races.
Registered bidders can see the cars Friday at the Hilton Austin Airport hotel, where the live auction of the cars, jewelry and watches from other federal cases begins Saturday morning.
The cars include an Aston Martin convertible, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Ferraris, a Shelby Series 1 convertible, and a Saleen S7 .
Online pre-bidding already has begun.
At midday Wednesday, the highest bids were $146,000 for a 2009 Spyker C6 Laviolette Holland, $171,000 for a 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Coupe, and $251,000 for the 2006 twin-turbo Saleen S7. According to Road and Track magazine, Saleen made 13 for the 2006 model year.
A gold chain set with 1,346 round diamonds had drawn a bid of $43,000, and bids above $30,000 had been made on at least two watches.
The cars once belonged to Drs. John Patrick Couch and Xiulu Ruan, who were convicted in March of numerous charges.
Ruan was sentenced to 21 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $10 million in restitution. Couch was sentenced to 20 years and ordered to pay $14 million.