HOUSTON – A 52-year-old man who advertised himself as the “Used Car King of New York” has been ordered to federal prison following his conviction of conspiring to commit wire fraud, the United States Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Octavian Ocasio pleaded guilty on Oct. 18, 2022, to conspiring with others residing in the Southern District of Texas to buy and sell thousands of fraudulent Texas-issued temporary buyer tags for cars outside of Texas without a legitimate vehicle purchase.
Ocasio received a 53-month prison sentence to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said.
At the hearing, the court reportedly heard how Ocasio and others engaged in a widespread fraud scheme to use fake car dealerships to generate and sell Texas temporary buyer tags without actually selling cars while assuring people that it was legal.
Investigators said Ocasio committed the crimes utilizing “mass marketing and sophisticated means.” The court also ordered Ocasio to pay restitution to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles in the amount of $324,600.
“If it seems like there are more cars driving around the streets of Houston with temporary paper plates, you would be correct, in part thanks to the hundreds of thousands (of) fake paper plates Ocasio sold to Texas drivers,” Hamdani said. “Ocasio’s fake plates would come back to a car that was never sold or sold to drivers who never should have been issued plates in the first place. Because of this, Texas recently changed the way paper plates are issued, and because of his decision to produce and sell fake plates, Ocasio will now spend several years inside of a real jail cell.”
Ocasio and co-conspirators allegedly used the internet to buy and sell the fraudulent state-issued buyer tags and exchange proceeds from the illegal tag sales.
Hamdani said at the time of Ocasio’s plea, he acknowledged he and his co-conspirators communicated through accounts on Gmail, Instagram and Facebook to receive and deliver fraudulent buyer tags to purchasers all over the United States, including New York, Florida and Washington, D.C. He also admitted he and his co-conspirators advertised the state-issued buyer tags on social media platforms and received and shared fraud proceeds via electronic payment services such as Cash App and Zelle, the DOJ said.
“It’s not every day that one of our cases leads to changes in the law, so I’m extremely proud of our FBI Houston agents and our partners who maneuvered through the complexities and scale of this investigation in the name of justice,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge David Martinez of the FBI. “Ocasio was one of several who, for too long, allowed thousands of drivers across the country to ride around with fraudulent paper license plates- all just to save a few dollars. Now, he’ll have to park himself inside a federal prison to pay for his crimes. Ocasio and his co-conspirators pocketed more than $200 million from their illegal activity which exploited not just the state of Texas but allowed unsafe vehicles on our streets with uninsured and unlicensed drivers at the wheel.”
Ocasio will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Emmanuel Padilla Reyes, also known as Christian Hernandez Bonilla or Noel Rivera, is still a fugitive in this case. The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone providing information that directly leads to his arrest. Those with information about his location are urged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or email www.TIPS.FBI.GOV.
KPRC 2 Investigates has reported extensively on the issue of fraudulent paper plates used by criminals to commit crimes.
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