The self-proclaimed “Used Vehicle King of New York” that police imagine is dependable for the scourge of phony paper license plates in the Massive Apple is now going through federal rates in Texas in the prolific rip-off, The Put up has uncovered.
Octavian Ocasio, 49, marketed as quite a few as 3,000 phony paper tags in the past year by itself, pocketing extra than $250,000 from customers that include things like gangbangers and car or truck burglars, law enforcement sources explained to The Write-up.
“He is a genuine shyster,” one particular resource claimed, adding that Ocasio refers to himself as the “Used Car or truck King of New York” on social media. “The quintessential applied automobile salesman. The utilised motor vehicle king has been dethroned.”
Ocasio, whose legal record dates to 1996, was arrested Tuesday at Lengthy Island Buffalo Wild Wings by the FBI/NYPD Joint Key Theft Activity Pressure on a number of conspiracy and wire fraud prices.
In late May perhaps, he and two many others were being indicted by federal prosecutors in Texas for their alleged roles in the two-condition operation that bought much more than 600,000 bogus tags, the US Attorney’s Office in Houston said.
One suspect, Leidy Areli Hernandez Lopez, 39, was taken into custody in Texas, but Ocasio and another male, Emmanuel Padilla Reyes, 31, were on the operate — until eventually now.
Ocasio appeared at a bail listening to Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court and was purchased held on $100,000 bond by Magistrate Decide Ramon Reyes, in accordance to court papers.
Prosecutors in equally states want Ocasio held without the need of bail right until he can be extradited to Texas, arguing he “was a fugitive for far more than two months, frequently failed to switch himself in, and proceeds to engage in the criminal offense,” the documents say.
Ocasio continued to peddle fake tags although staying away from arrest, the prosecutors mentioned. A decide stayed the bail ruling right until Aug. 9, in accordance to courtroom filings.
The sale of illegal paper license plates has significantly plagued the Huge Apple, turning motor vehicles into “ghost cars” that are frequently used by gang associates in shootings and robberies.
The pretend plates make cars practically untraceable — letting motorists to bypass tolls and crimson mild cameras and building stolen cars appear genuine.
The source identified as Ocasio “a monster fish” in the New York sector.
He allegedly labored with the co-conspirators in Texas to generate the paper tags, getting the plates from the Office of Motor Automobiles there with phony information and facts — and transport them on-line to New York, exactly where they are illegal, according to the resource.
The plates are authorized in Texas but have to go by way of a licensed supplier.
Ocasio would allegedly give his partners phony registration info and would receive the plates in a PDF that could then be printed out and offered, the supply claimed.
Police mentioned he’s been arrested eight occasions due to the fact 1996, such as on costs of possession of a solid instrument and possession of stolen house in 2007.
His most recent arrest was in 2018 when he was billed with weapons possession.
The end result of the arrests was not quickly acknowledged.
The NYPD started to crack down on the paper plates in May perhaps, and have considering that manufactured 243 arrests of motorists with the phony tags and seized 207 automobiles — including 23 that were being joined to street gang users, in accordance to the supply.
Due to the fact July 1, 3,892 vehicles with paper plates have been towed by the NYPD. Almost 800 of the cars were never ever picked up by the vehicle proprietor, the source said.
