The State Came For WhistlinDiesel’s Ferrari And Now He’s Coming For The State
The YouTuber claims Tennessee authorities never notified him before issuing a warrant
https://www.carscoops.com/author/stephen-rivers/
by Stephen Rivers
Detwiler says the arrest was over tax on a Montana-registered Ferrari F8.
Claims Tennessee never notified him before issuing the indictment.
Suggests authorities are targeting owners who use Montana loopholes.
A little under ten days ago, WhistlinDiesel creator Cody Detwiler was arrested and charged for tax evasion. At the time, it was unclear if his long-since burned up Ferrari F8 Tributo had anything to do with it. Now, Detwiler says that indeed, it was the focus of his arrest.
More: Millionaire Supercar Owners Are Skipping Taxes And States Are Furious
That said, he seems hell-bent on using a reverse UNO card on Tennessee authorities. Rather than allow them to make an example of him, he’s trying to do that to the state.
What’s the Accusation?
A state indictment alleges that Detwiler and his company, WhistlinDiesel LLC, evaded state sales tax by titling the $400,000 Ferrari under a Montana entity rather than paying sales tax in Tennessee. Detwiler says he would’ve paid around $30,000 in taxes alone had he registered the car in the southern state.
He also maintains that the Ferrari burned up in Texas, was driven across multiple states, and was legally titled in Montana.
In a YouTube video titled “I Got Arrested for ‘Tax Evasion,’” Detwiler recounts the arrest in detail, showing officers walking up his driveway before placing him in handcuffs.
He says he thought it was a prank until paperwork was produced, adding that he had “zero clue” what the warrant was for and had never received any prior notice, no letter, call, email, or text, requesting payment or clarifying a tax dispute.
Detwiler Says He Was Never Notified
Detwiler also disputes early viral claims of a $2 million bond, clarifying the actual figure was $20,000. He describes the jail stay as surprisingly uneventful and jokes that some of the staff recognized him from his videos. He alleges that he would’ve been willing to discuss payment had the state contacted him prior to his arrest.
Instead, he fully believes that Tennessee is trying to make an example out of him. “They wanna make a wave because they know there will be videos… and why would it not scare people into re-registering their vehicles and paying all that sales tax?” he asks before saying “I won’t put up with that.”
Moving the Battle
What does he mean? Well, for one thing, he’s moving out of the state and recommending that others do it too. “I cannot recommend enough, if you live in Tennessee… buy property in Montana. It’s a great place to live. I’m buying land there.”
In addition, he appears quite content to make this a lengthy legal process, noting that the next part of this trial won’t happen until January. While he didn’t go into detail about his strategy, it appears as though Tennessee might have bitten off more than it can chew. Only time will tell.
Credit: WhistlinDiesel
