A Houston man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for masterminding a large-scale operation that sold fake Texas license plates, bringing in over 550,000 fraudulent tags across the nation. Emmanuel Padilla Reyes, 35, is also on the hook for a whopping $22 million in restitution.
According to the Department of Justice, Reyes ran his scam from April 2018 to May 2021, during which he set up fake car dealerships and used stolen personal information to access the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles’ system, allowing him to issue temporary tags to customers.
These fraudulent tags were used to create what are known as “ghost cars” that became involved in serious crimes such as drive-by shootings, human smuggling, drug transport, robberies, murders, and evading tolls.
“The state suffers significant losses from vehicles that are unregistered and tolls that go unpaid due to these fake tags being used as toll passes,” stated Nicholas J. Ganjei, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, in a sentencing memo.
One shocking incident involved a fatality where a victim was killed by a vehicle displaying tags from Reyes’s fake dealership. Family members of the deceased shared their grief at the sentencing hearing, underscoring the real-world consequences of Reyes’s actions.
Reyes and his associates advertised their fake businesses on social media platforms and conducted transactions using digital payment platforms like Cash App and Zelle. Although the first indictments were issued in 2021, Reyes managed to evade capture until September 2024 when he was arrested in Sugar Land, Texas. Prosecutors reported that he had fled to Colorado to sell stolen cars before returning to Texas.
Back in May, Reyes pleaded guilty to conspiracy concerning wire fraud, averting a potential maximum prison sentence of 20 years. While Reyes advocated for a shorter sentence of three years, prosecutors countered with a five-year recommendation—and they got their way.
As Reyes is a Mexican citizen, he is facing deportation once he completes his prison term. He is currently in federal custody.
In relation to this case, three additional individuals have pled guilty in connection with the scheme. Daniel Rocky Christine-Tani, who managed marketing for Reyes’s fake operations, received a 93-month sentence and must pay $3.44 million. Another accomplice, Octavian Ocasio, d the “Used Car King of New York,” was sentenced to 53 months in prison alongside a $324,600 restitution. Lastly, Leidy Areli Hernandez Lopez, known for wholesaling the fake tags, got 30 months in prison and a $316,820 penalty. Importantly, Lopez failed to report to prison after her sentencing and is now considered a fugitive.
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