A former Nampa man, convicted of abandoning his family for 12 years, has been found guilty of felony insurance fraud for claims paid to the wife and four children who thought he was dead.

Vance “Toby” Bentley, 53, faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine when 3rd District Judge James Morfitt sentences him April 3. He also could be ordered to pay up to $350,000 in restitution as a result of Thursday’s verdict by a Canyon County jury.

In addition, Bentley faces up to 14 years in prison for abandoning his family in October 1984. He was convicted Tuesday on that felony charge.

The car dealer testified that thousands of dollars in debt, possible criminal charges related to his business and mounting stress caused him to leave his family. He sank his Cadillac in American Falls Reservoir, took a bus to Butte, Mont., and eventually moved to the Denver area and assumed the name Kenneth Brown.

A Nampa acquaintance spotted him at a Denver auto show last August.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Co. paid $275,000 in life insurance benefits to Bentley’s “survivors” after he was declared legally dead in 1990.