Othello Man Indicted for Rolling Back and Replacing Odometers

Monday, September 9, 2024

For Immediate Release

United States Attorney's Office Easter District of Washington U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Washington
Spokane, Washington – On September 4, 2024, a federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Washington returned an indictment charging Reynaldo Valdez Garza Jr., age 52, of Othello, Washington, with five counts of Odometer Tampering. Garza made his first appearance in Federal Court on September 9, 2024.

The indictment alleges that beginning in May of 2023, Garza carried out a scheme to acquire used cars with high mileage, tamper with or replace the odometers in the vehicles to make the cars mileage appear much lower, then advertise and sell the vehicles to unsuspecting buyers for an inflated price. According to the indictment, in some cases, Garza caused odometers to be rolled back more than 100,000 miles.

The indictment further alleges that in some instances Gaza would wait for the buyer to sign their section of the Bill of Sale paperwork, then fill in the “seller” section with different information than what was represented to the buyer regarding the identity of the seller and mileage.

“The purchase of a vehicle is often one of the largest financial commitments people make. It is important that buyers have confidence in the information they receive when deciding which vehicle to purchase,” stated U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref. “My office is committed to protecting consumers from fraudsters who seek to cheat the system for their own gain.”

This case was investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devin Curda.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Contact
Robert Curry

Public Affairs Specialist

USAWAE.Media@usdoj.gov

Updated September 9, 2024

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Harrisburg Man Sentenced To Prison For Odometer Tampering

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on July 10, 2024, Earnest Fry, 49, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment by U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner following his conviction for odometer tampering and forging vehicle titles. Judge Conner also ordered Fry to pay victims more than $47,000 in restitution, $700 in assessments, and to serve three years on supervised release following his term of imprisonment. Fry previously pleaded guilty to the offenses.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, just months after Fry was released from state prison for burglary and theft offenses in October 2018, and while he was on parole, he devised a scheme to purchase used cars, alter the cars’ true mileages by replacing or resetting their odometers, and then sell the vehicles online to unsuspecting customers who paid inflated prices for vehicles they might not otherwise have bought. In addition, Fry altered or forged the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania titles to multiple vehicles that he sold by causing the titles to reflect false, lower mileages. Fry altered the odometers on at least 55 used cars that he sold and rolled back more than five million miles on the vehicles. In some cases, Fry caused the odometers to be rolled back by nearly 200,000 miles. Fry’s offenses not only caused victims to pay far more for the cars than they were worth, but created the risk that buyers would incur additional losses due to likely increased maintenance costs, excessive insurance premiums, and other unanticipated expenses.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian T. Haugsby prosecuted the case.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that odometer fraud in the United States results in consumer losses of more than $1 billion annually and has established a special hotline to handle odometer fraud complaints. Individuals with information relating to odometer tampering should call (800) 424-9393, or email odometerfraud@dot.gov.

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More information on odometer fraud is available on the NHTSA website, https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/odometer-fraud

Cascade Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Rolling Back Odometers

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Iowa

A man who was responsible for forty-seven cars that had lower, false odometers was sentenced to federal prison on April 8, 2024.

Randolph Forrest, age 69, from Cascade, Iowa, received the prison term after a January 17, 2023 guilty plea to one count of wire fraud.

Information from sentencing showed that from June 2012 through July 2021 Forrest conspired with others to roll back odometers on used cars to sell them for more money. Forrest and others involved in the scheme tampered with the odometers of at least forty-seven cars by having the odometers fraudulently altered to reflect lower mileages. They then sold the cars to unsuspecting buyers at higher sales prices than the buyers would have paid had the true mileage been disclosed. As part of the fraud, Forrest mailed forms to a repair business requesting that odometers be changed to reflect lower mileages. Forrest advertised the cars with the lower, false mileages on Facebook and Craigslist.

Forrest was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Forrest was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and six months’ home confinement. He was ordered to make $140,178.55 in restitution to forty-seven victims of his offense. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

More information on odometer fraud is available on the NHTSA website https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle-safety/odometer-fraud and tips on detecting and avoiding odometer fraud are available at this page: www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nvs/pdf/811284.pdf.

Forrest was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal on May 6, 2024.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by the United States Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Iowa Department of Transportation, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl

Illinois Man Pleads Guilty in Odometer Tampering Conspiracy

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

An Illinois man pleaded guilty today in connection with a years-long fraud conspiracy to roll back the odometer readings on hundreds of used cars.

According to court documents, Laith Ghzo, 37, of Oak Lawn, admitted that he purchased high-mileage vehicles at auto auctions and caused the odometers of those vehicles to be rolled back to false, lower mileage readings. Ghzo also admitted that he then altered the rolled back vehicles’ title paperwork to match the false and lower mileage readings, and subsequently submitted those altered titles to the Illinois Secretary of State to obtain “clean” titles reflecting the false, lower mileage. With the false and lower mileage titles, Ghzo then sold the vehicles to other unsuspecting car dealers, who then sold them to unsuspecting consumers.

“According to the National Highway Traffic Administration, odometer fraud causes more than $1 billion per year in losses to consumers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Odometer fraud is a crime that predominately affects the economically vulnerable, who are simply looking for transportation to work or to school but who cannot afford to purchase a new car. We thank our partners for bringing this matter to our attention.”

Ghzo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 1 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Joshua D. Rothman and Thomas S. Rosso of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kartik Raman for the Northern District of Illinois are prosecuting the case.

Updated April 25, 2024

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Former Fugitive Sentenced in Odometer Tampering Scheme

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

For Immediate Release
Gavel U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Wisconsin

Gregory J. Haanstad, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on December 5, 2023, a Mexican national was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to 12 months and one day in prison for his role in a scheme to roll back odometers on used motor vehicles.

Israel Sanchez-Pulido, 41, of Mexico City, Mexico, pleaded guilty on September 6, 2023, to one count of odometer tampering, one count of making a false odometer statement, and one count of conspiracy.

As part of his plea agreement, Sanchez-Pulido admitted that, between 2009 and 2014, he purchased 146 high-mileage vehicles at Wisconsin auto auctions, rolled back the odometers, altered the mileage statements on the vehicle title paperwork, and then sold the vehicles with fraudulently low odometer readings to unsuspecting victims, who were primarily from Illinois. Sanchez-Pulido purchased the cars at auto auctions located in Wisconsin and drove them to a used car dealership in Evanston, Illinois. He then rolled back the odometers, reflecting a much lower mileage, and altered the vehicle title to match the false mileage, often by simply erasing the first digit of the mileage on the title or by writing over the accurate mileage reading. Sanchez-Pulido then represented to buyers the false mileage, which often exceeded 100,000 miles lower than the true mileage and sold the vehicles for more money than the vehicles were worth. The estimated fraud-loss of the 146 vehicles involved in this schemed exceeded $250,000.

On March 5, 2014, Sanchez-Pulido was arrested and charged by criminal complaint. During the subsequent detention hearing, he was granted release after posting a property-secured bond, and he was ordered to return to court for arraignment on April 14, 2014. Sanchez-Pulido never appeared.

He absconded and remained a fugitive for nearly ten years until June 2023, when local law enforcement stopped Sanchez-Pulido for a traffic violation in Illinois and discovered the outstanding arrest warrant from the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Judge Lynn Adelman sentenced Sanchez-Pulido to 12 months and one day of incarceration. At the request of the government, restitution will be addressed on March 1, 2024.

“Individuals who engage in these types of schemes seek to line their own pockets at the expense of consumers who can least afford it,” stated U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad of the Eastern District of Wisconsin. “In addition, after being charged, this defendant absconded and avoided the consequences of his actions for the better part of a decade. I commend our hard-working federal and state partners who helped pursue justice for the victims in this case.”

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation, with assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Trial Attorney Edward Dunn of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Koenig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, prosecuted the case.

NHTSA estimates that odometer fraud in the United States results in consumer losses of more than $1 billion annually. Individuals with information relating to odometer tampering should call NHTSA’s odometer fraud hotline at (800) 424-9393.

More information on odometer fraud is available on the NHTSA website at https://www.nhtsa.gov/odometer-fraud and tips on detecting and avoiding odometer fraud are available at https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/811284.pdf.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at https://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwi.

For Additional Information Contact:

Public Information Officer

Kenneth.Gales@usdoj.gov

414-297-1700

NOTICE

It has come to the attention of the Wyoming Department of Transportation that there is blank Wyoming Title stock unaccounted for. The Department has notified the County from which they were taken. Sometime after May 01, 2023 these Wyoming titles were stolen and some of the blank titles have been found to have been used for criminal purposes in the State of Colorado. The missing blank Wyoming title stock consists of one case of 500 titles. The control numbers on these titles are 8790001 through 8790500. The control numbers are located at the lower right side of the title in silver print with a security box around the number. On the lower left side of the title will be marked MV-301 (4/21) with a round silver security seal to the right of the text. The security seal has the letters WY. The control numbers are duplicated with the front green colored title that goes to the owner and the back copy that is white in color and is retained by Wyoming County clerks. These missing titles may be used for fraudulent purposes. If any of these control numbers are found please contact Investigator Shane Fox with the Wyoming Department of Transportation Compliance & Investigation section at 307-777-3840.

Former Georgia Used Motor Vehicle Dealer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud in Connection with Odometer Tampering Scheme

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Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Shareright caret
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
A Georgia man pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia for his role in falsifying vehicle titles as part of a scheme to roll back odometers on used motor vehicles.

According to court documents between 2011 and 2013, Andrew O. Elphic, 52, of Monroe, engaged in a scheme to sell high-mileage and used vehicles with false and low-mileage readings entered on the vehicles’ odometers and titles. Elphic purchased high-mileage vehicles from auctions outside the State of Georgia, altered or arranged to alter the vehicles’ odometers to reflect false and lower mileage readings, and then altered the vehicles’ titles to reflect false lower mileages for the vehicles. He then submitted the altered titles to co-conspirators employed at a Georgia Motor Vehicle Division office and made cash payments to the employees in order to obtain new motor vehicle titles reflecting the false and lower mileages. Elphic then used the fraudulent titles with the lower odometer readings to sell the vehicles at an automobile auction in Atlanta. By deceiving purchasers into believing the vehicles had fewer miles, Elphic was able to sell the vehicles at inflated prices — thereby causing unsuspecting buyers to pay more for vehicles than they would have paid had the buyers known the true mileages.

Elphic’s scheme misrepresented the mileage to the Georgia Motor Vehicle Division on at least 305 vehicles, resulting in consumer losses of more than $550,000. Consumers who ultimately purchased the vehicles at dealerships did not know of the mileage discrepancies and, as a result, paid inflated sales prices.

“The Department of Justice will continue to work with law enforcement partners to prosecute unscrupulous individuals who deceive consumers purchasing used motor vehicles,” said Principal Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Misrepresenting used car mileages defrauds buyers and conceals significant information about the safety and reliability of these vehicles.”

“Our top priority is safety, and odometer fraud schemes not only scam consumers, but keep unsafe vehicles on our roads,” said Acting Administrator Ann Carlson of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “By actively prosecuting these crimes, we send a strong message that odometer scams, which affect the livelihood of Americans across this country, will not go unpunished. I thank our partners at the Department of Justice for working with us to deter odometer fraud.”

Elphic pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 24, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The NHTSA Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation investigated the case, with assistance from the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Senior Litigation Counsel Linda I. Marks and Trial Attorney Kathryn Schmidt of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Krepp for the Northern District of Georgia prosecuted the case.

More information on odometer fraud is available on the NHTSA website at www.nhtsa.gov/odometer-fraud, and tips on detecting and avoiding odometer fraud are available at www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/811284.pdf.

For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, visit www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

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Updated July 12, 2023

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Two Men for Wire Fraud and Odometer Tampering

Thursday, June 15, 2023

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Kentucky

Bowling Green, KY – A federal grand jury in Bowling Green, Kentucky, returned an indictment on June 14, 2023, charging two Warren County men with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit odometer tampering, and four counts of odometer tampering.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Porter of the Department of Transportation made the announcement.

According to the indictment, beginning in June 2018, through January 2023, Randy Huff, 60, aided and abetted by his employee Donnie Wilson, 50, devised a scheme to defraud the buyers of used cars by fraudulently reducing the mileage shown on the odometers, thereby inducing both the immediate and subsequent buyers of the vehicles to pay more for the motor vehicles than they would have paid if they had known the vehicles’ true mileages.

As part of the scheme, mechanics working for Huff reduced the mileage shown on the vehicles’ odometers by swapping the odometers with lower-mileage replacement odometers. After altering the vehicles’ odometers and the titles, Huff, Wilson, and other employees sold the vehicles to customers at Huff’s Auto Sales in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, and South Side Auto Sales in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This led to larger profits for Huff.

Huff and Wilson are scheduled to make their initial appearances before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on June 21, 2023. If convicted, each faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is being investigated by the United States Department of Transportation and the Kentucky Department of Transportation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Madison Sewell, of the U.S. Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office, is prosecuting this case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated June 15, 2023

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Odometer Fraud

Wichita Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Odometer Tampering

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Western District of Oklahoma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

OKLAHOMA CITY – MICHAEL MARKS, 31, of Wichita, Kansas, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit odometer tampering, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

Public records reflect that on February 10, 2023, Marks was charged by Information with one count of conspiring to alter the odometers of motor vehicles. The Information alleges that between August 2017 and July 2022, Marks and his coconspirators purchased 15 used vehicles, altered their odometers to register lower mileages, and then resold the vehicles to unsuspecting buyers. Federal law prohibits conspiring to knowingly and willfully disconnect, reset, and alter an odometer of a motor vehicle intending to change the registered odometer mileage.

Today, Marks pleaded guilty to the Information. Marks will be sentenced in approximately 90 days. At sentencing, Marks faces up to three years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. Under the terms of his plea agreement with the government, Marks has also agreed to pay restitution to the victims who purchased the 15 vehicles.

This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D.H. Dilbeck.

Reference is made to the Information and other public court filings for further information.

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Working to deter odometer and title fraud

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Othello Man Indicted for Rolling Back and Replacing Odometers

Harrisburg Man Sentenced To Prison For Odometer Tampering

Cascade Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Rolling Back Odometers

Illinois Man Pleads Guilty in Odometer Tampering Conspiracy

Former Fugitive Sentenced in Odometer Tampering Scheme

NOTICE

Former Georgia Used Motor Vehicle Dealer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud in Connection with Odometer Tampering Scheme

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Two Men for Wire Fraud and Odometer Tampering

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Odometer Fraud

Wichita Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Odometer Tampering

OKLAHOMA CITY – MICHAEL MARKS, 31, of Wichita, Kansas, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit odometer tampering, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.