Consumer Protection

The investigation into allegations against a local Prineville car salesman, Michael Smetzer Jr. and his company Central Oregon Motors, has been taken over by the FBI.

Law enforcement and DMV investigations into Prineville-based Central Oregon Motors, LLC, have been revealed following an initial story first reported by the Prineville Review last month as well as a report last week by KTVZ's Matthew Draxton.

A Prineville car salesman and his business are coming under fire by a growing list victims for allegedly cheating them out of tens of thousands of dollars -- which combined might be total hundreds of thousands. Central Oregon Motors, LLC, and its owner Michael Dwayne Smetzer, are also named defendants in two lawsuits for over $1.3 million.

The owners of a Prineville company have been fined by the Oregon Construction & Contractors Board for "Advertising or bidding without a CCB license" according to records obtained by the Prineville Review.