According to the news portal Times-Herald News, Simone Aguilar, 45, of Vallejo, was sentenced Friday to seven years and three months in prison by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. for a scheme to buy vehicles using other people’s names, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
On Oct. 7, 2016, Aguilar pleaded guilty to possession of device-making equipment and aggravated identity theft. This follows the guilty plea made Sept. 1, 2015, by co-defendant Gurpinder Sandhu, 49, formerly of Vallejo, who was sentenced to nine years in prison March 4, 2016, according to the announcement.
“Court documents reveal that in September 2014, law enforcement agents began investigating reports of numerous vehicles being fraudulently purchased with stolen identities from car dealerships throughout the Northern and Eastern Districts of California,” court officials said. “The investigation led to the residence of Aguilar and Sandhu, where law enforcement found three of the fraudulently obtained vehicles: a 2014 Nissan Rogue, a 2014 Dodge Challenger and a Harley Davidson motorcycle.”
Inside the residence agents found many counterfeit items, including credit cards and California driver’s licenses, as well as equipment with which to manufacture these counterfeit items. This equipment included an embossing machine, cameras, printers, scanners, materials and chemicals used to produce identification cards, state seals, and a blue backdrop on the wall to imitate a California Department of Motor Vehicles background for photo IDs, officials said. Agents also found documents, like rental agreements, Comcast bills and sales receipts, containing the names of real people.
Based on the fraudulent documents found in the apartment, law enforcement agents identified at least 50 identity theft victims, officials said. Aguilar and Sandhu used these identities to fraudulently purchase vehicles from car dealerships and retail goods from commercial stores like Macy’s, they said.
Aguilar and Sandhu got at least seven vehicles this way, including, besides the three mentioned, a 2013 Yamaha motorcycle, a 2010 Chevrolet Corvette, a 2013 Dodge Challenger and a 2013 Dodge Charger, officials said.
“This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the California Highway Patrol, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Segal prosecuted the case, officials said.
