The United States Justice Department said three men from San Jose admitted to rolling back vehicle odometers and posting them for sale on Craigslist.
San Jose residents Seymur Khalilov, 32; Orkhan Aliyev, 32; and Ramil Heydarov, 31 collaborated to buy high-mileage vehicles from at least October 2017 through December last year, the plea deal said. The three rolled back the odometers of these vehicles for it to appear new, KRON4 reported.
To sell the vehicles, the men pleaded guilty to using fabricated driver’s licenses bearing their photograph but the prior vehicle owners’ names.
The victims have accumulated a total loss of more than $550, 000 after the defendants have closed a deal with them on at least 78 vehicles with rolled-back odometers.
The men agreed to reimburse the money paid by their victims, as part of the plea deal.
All defendants were slammed with a single criminal complaint.
Restitution in the amount between $360, 000 and $534, 072 was decided to be paid by Khalilov, which will depend on what the court will set. Meanwhile, restitution in the amount of $379,235 will be paid by Heydarov, and Aliyev will pay $196, 578 for the same.
The conspiracy charge also entails a maximum statutory imprisonment sentence of more than 20 years and a fine of $250, 000, which the defendants will face apart from the restitution.
Sentencing is set for February 4 next year.