KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Update Dec. 18, 2020: Christopher Captain received Judicial Diversion from Judge Scott Green for his role in a plot to fake the theft of his Bentley.
The length of the diversion is four years and it is unsupervised.
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A Knoxville restaurateur admitted Tuesday morning he lied to police this spring as part of a plot to stage the theft of his luxury vehicle so he could collect insurance money.
Christopher Captain, 50, faces a four-year sentence on probation for his plea to filing a false police report. He submitted to what's called an information in Knox County Criminal Court, agreeing to a felony charge in lieu of a review by a grand jury.
Defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs said during Tuesday's video hearing that his client would seek unsupervised probation and judicial diversion, which would give him the chance to wipe the charge clean from his record.
Knox County Assistant District Attorney General Bill Bright said the state opposed unsupervised probation and diversion, which would have to be granted by Judge Scott Green.
Isaacs said his client had cooperated in the case, even secretly making several recordings once authorities began looking into the bogus theft.
Captain, who owns Sam and Andy's Deli, was at the heart of a scheme to get rid of his 2012 Bentley Continental this spring, authorities said. It had an estimated value of about $70,000.
Ronnie L Kidd, who oversaw vehicle maintenance for the Knox County Sheriff's Office at the time, and an inmate named Joshua Caleb Haynes were the other key players.
Captain hatched a plan with Kidd, a friend, to have the vehicle stolen from his West Knoxville driveway by Haynes, a skilled mechanic who'd done reliable work on Sheriff's Office vehicles while in custody.
Captain wanted to "make it disappear," Bright said.
On April 1, 2020, Kidd texted Captain with the message, "Tonight," indicating the scheme was ready to move forward.
Captain left the keys in the unlocked silver convertible the night of April 1, Bright said. Wearing a hooded sweatshirt, Haynes caught a ride to the neighborhood, got in the car, found the keys and drove away.
The next morning, Captain told his wife someone had stolen his car and called the Knoxville Police Department to report the false theft.
Bright said Tuesday that Captain had ponied up the $500 so Haynes could bond out of jail.
Haynes kept the vehicle for a couple weeks but was eventually found in Grainger County and arrested by Knox County deputies.
He started to talk about what he knew and the plot unraveled.
Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler asked for the TBI to investigate. Special Agent Brandon Elkins handled the case this summer, interviewing Haynes as part of his review.
Kidd, 65, pleaded guilty to official misconduct Oct. 13 and faces sentencing Dec. 11. He's retired from the Sheriff's Office as part of his agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty.
Haynes, 34, is due in Green's court in November.
Green will sentence Captain on Dec. 18. Bright said the state wanted a background investigation to be conducted in advance. Isaacs said he was prepared to offer extensive evidence about the quality of Captain's character.
According to Isaacs, Captain has repeatedly said he's sorry for what he did. He has no criminal record.
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kimberly Glenn said Spangler is eager to "clean up" the mess from the case and move on.