from Robert E. Kesler of Newsday,

The former owner of a Great Neck automobile dealership was sentenced to 4 years in prison Thursday for running a $10 million fraud that tricked customers -- including two former New York Islanders -- into believing they were getting good deals on purchases, officials said.

Rick Cohen, 51, of Syosset, was also ordered to make restitution and serve 5 years of supervised release at his sentencing in federal court in Central Islip before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert....

Among the victims of the scheme were former Islanders hockey players Mike Comrie and Mark Streit. They could not be reached for comment Thursday....

In one scheme, Cohen falsely told customers that he would use part of the sales proceeds to pay off the loan on trade-ins, the prosecutor said.

In a second scheme, Cohen told buyers that they would get the best deal by financing a car purchase with a short-term loan. But he actually had his victims sign up for long-term car loans, pocketing the long-term loan payments as they came in. Cohen also changed the addresses on the loan papers to that of his business, so dunning notices from the financing companies never reached the customers.

Comrie was cheated when he bought a Mercedes from Cohen; Streit in the purchase of a Porsche for $60,000 and a Mercedes for $70,000, according to sources familiar with the case.

more