An Othello, WA Man is facing at least five counts of odometer tampering, according to US Attorney’s Officials in Spokane.
The man would buy used cars, and rollback the mileage
Following an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Reynaldo Valdez Garza Jr., 52, of Othello, was charged with the five counts.
Authorities say beginning in May of 2023, Garza began to purchase used vehicles, then would roll back the odometers to make them appear they had far fewer miles. He would then sell these vehicles at inflated prices to unsuspecting customers.
Some of the vehicles, say officials, had as many as 100,000 miles shaved off. According to the US Attorney’s Office:
“…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.”
Garza made his first court appearance on September 9th. Officials have not said when his next appearance will be, or what potential jail time he would be facing.
The fraud was discovered and investigated beginning in March of this year. The tampered vehicles were being advertised on a variety of social media pages.
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Gallery Credit: Liz Barrett Foster