Jan 26, 2018 2 min read

A Union Township man was sentenced Thursday to 32 to 64 months in prison on theft charges stemming from allegations he bilked customers who brought him vintage cars to work on.

Curtis Ukasik, 45, of Boyka Drive also was ordered by Allegheny County Judge Randal Todd to pay $448,381 in restitution and serve 20 years of probation following the prison term.

Allegheny County detectives accused Ukasik of billing customers and receiving payments for work he never performed after the customers hired his business, Redline Performance Motor Sports, for work on their vehicles.

Court papers described the business as offering car repair and “high-end restoration, customization and modification” services. Investigators said the business was located in Warrendale until it moved to Coraopolis in mid-2013. It later moved to spots in Harmony and Zelienople.

Ukasik entered no-contest pleas to charges including theft and deceptive business practices in September.

His attorney, Robert Foreman, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

One of the allegations against Ukasik involved a 1970 Dodge Charger brought to him for a custom rebuild that was supposed to have been done in August 2012. RPM received checks totaling $80,000 for work ostensibly performed on the car that year.

By April 2015, the owner no longer knew where the car was until its chassis and frame were found at RPM’s Harmony location that June, according to court papers. The owner eventually sold it for $10,000 after finding the chassis and frame wouldn’t fit the intended engine and deciding he couldn’t restore it.