Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Jerry John Mathins, age 50, of Laurel, Maryland, and Braysean Owens, age 23, of Baltimore, Maryland, with conspiracy to commit odometer tampering and three counts of securities fraud.
The indictment alleges that, along with other known and unknown co-conspirators, Owens purchased used vehicles with high mileages at auction and altered the titles of those vehicles to reflect a significantly lower odometer reading. Then, Owens and Mathins caused the odometers of those vehicles to be falsely lowered, consistent with the altered titles. Finally, on behalf of B-City Auto & Detailing, a Rosedale, Maryland vehicle dealership, Owens and others, sold hundreds of these vehicles to unsuspecting buyers. These buyers paid, in some instances, thousands of dollars more than they would have if they knew the true mileage of these vehicles.
The indictment was announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Baltimore Field Office, and Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office prioritizes protecting consumers from deceptive practices,” said U.S. Attorney Barron. “We will investigate and hold accountable those who fraudulently obtain individuals’ hard-earned money, including through odometer fraud, as alleged in this case.”
“This was an elaborate scheme that targeted hundreds of unsuspecting car buyers who trusted they were purchasing cars with accurate mileage. Our thorough investigation illustrates how Mathins and Owens deceived these buyers to illegally line their own pockets,” says FBI Baltimore Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno. “This case exemplifies the FBI’s commitment to vigorously pursue criminals who orchestrate fraud schemes and bring them to justice.”
“Odometer fraud is a serious and costly crime, and NHTSA is dedicated to protecting American car buyers from these deceptive and dangerous practices,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said. “The agency will continue to educate the public on how to detect odometer fraud and will keep working with the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ offices to investigate and prosecute these cases.”
If convicted, Owens faces up to 10 years in prison for each securities fraud count and Mathins faces up to 5 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit odometer tampering count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with the assistance of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and the Baltimore County Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adeyemi Adenrele and Michael Hanlon.
NHTSA estimates that odometer fraud in the United States costs consumers more than $1 billion annually. NHTSA encourages the public to report odometer fraud by calling its Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236.
More information on odometer fraud is available at https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle-safety/odometer-fraud, and tips on detecting and avoiding odometer fraud are available at www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nvs/pdf/811284.pdf.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.