A con man who tricked actor Nicolas Cage out of $300,000 by posing as a classic car salesman has been jailed for five years. Peter Brotman, 47, sold cars including a 1964 Rolls-Royce, a 1988 Aston Martin and a 1954 Jaguar on consignment, but kept the money he received to pay off other debts and fund his lavish lifestyle. The Ghost Rider star became a victim of Brotman in April 2004, when he failed to hand over the full proceeds from the sale of three Ferraris and a Cobra. Brotman was sentenced to five years imprisonment yesterday after pleading guilty to 14 counts of mail, wire and bank fraud charges. He was also ordered to pay $1.8 million in compensation to his numerous targets. Assistant U.S. Attorney Floyd J. Miller says, "The guy was extremely knowledgeable in the classic-car industry. It's a very insular community of mostly wealthy people. They have these auctions at Pebble Beach, Monte Carlo, (and) other places where the rich and famous meet."
