3 dealerships closed in raid (Lebanon Western Star)

3 dealerships closed in raid

By Lauren Pack
Staff Writer
Friday, March 14, 2008

HAMILTON — Three auto dealerships are shut down as authorities said the owners have been aiding illegal immigrants in identity theft and buying cars without proper identification.
Seven people were arrested and dozens of indictments were unsealed Thursday, March 13, a day when Butler County sheriff's deputies and federal agents raided dealerships, looking for people allegedly producing fraudulent paperwork to buy vehicles for illegal immigrants.
About 20 law enforcement vehicles converged about 11:15 a.m. at Credit Auto Sales and Paul's Auto Sales and Service and Pay-Less Auto Sales on Ohio 4 in Hamilton, as well as Pay Less Auto Salvage in Middletown. In all, they arrested seven of the nine people sought for tampering with records and identity theft charges.
A Butler County grand jury handed down a total of 34 indictments against the individuals.
The investigation, dubbed Operation CAST (criminal auto sales and titles), took months of undercover work and the assistance of the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Social Security Administration, Immigrations Customs and Enforcement, and the county prosecutor's office, according to Sheriff Richard K. Jones.
Arrested were: Samuel Roque-Guillian, 27, of Hamilton, on eight counts of tampering with records and one count of taking the identity of another; Jesus Vazquez, 27, of Hamilton, on three counts of complicity to tampering with records; Mary Reyes, 27, of Hamilton, one count of tampering with records; Sylvia Pastrana, 23, of Hamilton, on one count of complicity to tampering with records; Sinderpal Singh, 34, of Mason, on two counts of complicity to tampering with records; Rajvinder Singh, 35, of Middletown, on one count of tampering with records; and James Dozier, 24, of Middletown, on eight counts of tampering with records and one count of impersonating a police officer.
Officers were still looking Thursday afternoon for a third Singh brother, Sukhvinder Singh, 37, of Mason, charged with one count of tampering with records and five counts of complicity to tampering with records; and Maria Martinez, 41, of Cincinnati, charged with tampering with records and complicity to tampering with records.
ICE-trained deputies identified five illegal aliens who were in the area when the raids occurred. Those five people were arrested by ICE agents and are also in the Butler County Jail.
Jones said his department received information about local car dealerships selling vehicles to illegal aliens and knowingly processing vehicle titles and registrations under fictitious names. Undercover officers were sold fake IDs and the dealership then used the fake card to get a card title and registration.
At one point in the investigation, the undercover officer purposely failed to make payments and was contacted by Dozier who identified himself as a deputy trying to coerce the undercover officer to make payments to avoid deportation.
?You have to have compassion at one end, but a swift stick in the other,? Jones said, noting the dealers were ruthless and preying upon illegal aliens.
But he added, "illegals cannot come to this country and purchase vehicles with fraudulent documents."
The investigation in ongoing and involves other car dealerships in Butler County and surrounding counties.