A Woodland Hills man who raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars by illegally rolling back the odometer readings of used cars to make the vehicles appear more valuable was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison.
Shamai Salpeter — previously the subject of a 2012 hidden-camera investigation of odometer fraud by CBS2 — was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release upon getting out of prison and to pay restitution of about $422,000 to the owners of cars with altered odometers.
“This is not just another white-collar crime,” U.S. District Judge George H. King said from the bench. “There is a very real risk of safety.”
King ordered Salpeter to surrender to federal authorities on May 18 to begin his sentence, refusing to allow a six-month deferment so the defendant could attend his son’s wedding.
“I am not about to order a delay of six months,” King said, adding that Salpeter was lucky he wasn’t immediately placed in custody.
Salpeter conspired with co-defendant Jeffrey Levy, a former top salesman at Galpin Ford in North Hills, for at least three years, said prosecutor John W. Burke of the Consumer Protection Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice.
While working at the dealership, Levy referred customers, including friends, to Salpeter, who charged up to $400 to roll back the odometer readings, which he did using electronic tools in the driveway of his home, Burke said.
Levy — who was sentenced last month to a year in federal prison — then accepted the vehicles for lease returns or trade-ins without alerting the dealership, “thus defrauding future owners of the vehicles,” according to court papers.
“I cannot even express my feelings for all the people that lost a lot of money from my actions,” Salpeter told the court. “I really feel sorry about it.”
Defense attorney Jeremy Matz, arguing for a probationary term, said his client had cooperated in the investigation by demonstrating for agents exactly how he rolled back the odometers, and had provided information that resulted in the arrest and conviction of Levy.
Burke said there was no way to determine exactly how many vehicles were tampered with since the defendants intentionally kept no records.
“We’ve never been able to put a number” on how many customers were referred to Salpeter by Levy, the prosecutor said, adding that not all clients came by way of the car salesman.
Salpeter and Levy pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to commit odometer tampering.
King said there were more than 250 victims of the scheme, which operated for at least three years.
Salpeter “actually did the resetting and he did it for money,” the judge said.
Victims of odometer fraud lose thousands of dollars on what can turn out to be unreliable and potentially dangerous vehicles, according to the Department of Justice.
— City News Service