2 men sentenced in fraudulent scheme to steal from 6 N.Y. dealerships

November 29, 2018 12:00 AM

Westchester County District Attorney's Office

Jankely Hidalgo, 29, the driver, supplied Sevilla with forged driver's licenses and other fake personal identification, including Social Security numbers.

Two New York City men were sentenced last week to spend years in prison and pay thousands of dollars in restitution for their involvement in a fraudulent scheme to steal vehicles from dealerships in Westchester County, N.Y.

Jankely Hidalgo, 29, and Jonathan Sevilla, 34, who had pleaded guilty in October, were each sentenced Wednesday to two to six years in state prison. From last fall through earlier this year, the men participated in a plan to fraudulently purchase and take possession of mostly high-end vehicles from several dealerships 40 to 50 miles north of New York City by using the personal identification and credit history of others, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. said last week.

In addition to serving time, both men were ordered to pay restitution — about $78,600 for Hidalgo and $52,507 for Sevilla.

"Fighting identity theft and the kind of extended crime it spawns, in this case, auto theft, is an important focus for our office," Scarpino said in an email to Automotive News.

In October, the two men pleaded guilty to one count each of first-degree identity theft, for the theft of a Lexus from Ray Catena Lexus of Larchmont, according to the district attorney's office. Additionally, Sevilla pleaded guilty to a second count of first-degree identity theft for an attempted theft from Mariano Rivera Toyota of Mount Kisco in late January. The district attorney's office also said both men admitted to additional thefts at other dealerships in Westchester County.

Westchester County District Attorney

Jonathan Sevilla, 34, would present himself as a legitimate buyer who wanted financing for expensive vehicles.

The cases are part of what prosecutors are calling a fraud ring that has drawn the attraction of federal investigators.

As part of the ring, Hidalgo supplied fictitious driver's licenses and stolen personal information, such as Social Security numbers, to Sevilla and others in the ring to pose as legitimate buyers who had interest in financing a vehicle, prosecutors said.

In June, Hidalgo and Sevilla were arrested after they fraudulently purchased five high-end vehicles from dealerships. From October 2017 through February, the ring "started getting higher-end vehicles, and then I think we sort of saw that they were just doing any vehicles they could get their hands on," Stefanie DeNise, the Westchester County assistant district attorney, told Automotive News this year.

On Oct. 20, 2017, Hidalgo drove Sevilla to the Ray Catena Lexus store, where Sevilla used a stolen identity to strike a deal to finance a Lexus valued at $86,741 and drove off the lot without paying for it.

Shamika Walker, 30, is the third suspect to be arrested in the fraud ring. She turned herself in to Mount Kisco police in July, according to a previous report. Walker was charged with second-degree grand larceny and first-degree identity theft on suspicion of using stolen information to receive an auto loan at Mariano Rivera Toyota.

Simple scanner

Investigators said the vehicles obtained by the fraud ring were being shipped to Africa.

According to prosecutors, the federal investigation extends to four states — Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey — in conjunction with a host of local police departments and the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also had a limited role in the case, according to a spokeswoman with the Westchester County District Attorney's Office.

In all the cases implicating the fraud ring, the suspects are accused of using a stolen identity — different at each dealership — and putting zero money down, according to the investigators.

"This should also be an example to car dealerships to be more aware of these types of schemes and to be cautious when dealing with buyers who seem overly anxious to get the deal done," Scarpino said Monday in the email. "Using an inexpensive license scanner may be one of the simplest ways to prevent this kind of theft from happening in the first place."

Anisa Jibrell contributed to this report.