SPOKANE — A Kennewick man has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for his role in a complex scheme involving staging fake automobile accidents to defraud insurance companies, making false statements to federal law enforcement and attempting to obstruct a federal investigation, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Friday.

Ali Abed Nasser, 52, pleaded guilty to the charges in 2022. In addition to the prison time, Nasser also agreed to three years of court-ordered supervision following the completion of his sentence, forfeiture of nearly $20,000 and financial restitution of roughly $127,000, the press release noted.

Nasser also attempted to bribe someone he suspected was a federal informant in order to stop the investigation and make the case go away, the press release said.

“Staged accidents make our streets dangerous and distract police from responding to legitimate distress calls,” wrote Vanessa Waldorf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, in a press release. “Moreover, efforts to hinder federal criminal proceedings will not be tolerated.”

“We will continue to work closely with our federal and state law enforcement, and private industry, partners to investigate fraud schemes,” Waldorf added.