Shamai Salpeter, Odometer Tampering, California 2014

A California man’s scheme to alter hundreds of odometers has landed him in prison. Shamai Salpeter, 66, was sentenced to serve two years in prison for his role in an odometer tampering scheme that cheated unsuspecting consumers out of thousands of dollars.

According to court documents, Salpeter pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of tampering with an odometer. From July 2008 through January 2012, he used electronic tools to alter hundreds of odometers at his residence in Woodland Hills, California. For a payment of $100 to $400, he reset the odometers to any mileage requested by his customers.

Frequently, his customers were trying to avoid penalties for exceeding the maximum mileage for their vehicle lease or to make their vehicle more valuable as a trade-in. Many of the vehicles were subsequently sold to unsuspecting consumers who had no way to detect that the odometer readings were inaccurate.

Court records show that many of Salpeter’s customers were referred to him by Jeffrey Levy, a salesman at Galpin Ford in North Hills, California. Levy also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit odometer fraud and was sentenced to serve one year in prison and ordered to pay $115,818 in restitution.

The Justice Department’s Civil Division is committed to prosecuting individuals who engage in odometer tampering. “Each time this defendant altered an odometer with an electronic odometer tampering tool, he violated federal law,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “We will continue to prosecute individuals engaged in odometer tampering to protect innocent purchasers from odometer fraud.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that odometer fraud in the United States results in consumer losses of more than $1 billion annually. If you have information relating to odometer tampering, you can call the NHTSA hotline at (800) 424-9393 or (202) 366-4761. More information on odometer fraud is available on the NHTSA website.

Salpeter was ordered to pay $421,666 in restitution to victims who purchased vehicles without knowing the odometer readings were incorrect. His sentence serves as a reminder of the consequences of engaging in odometer tampering and the importance of protecting consumers from this type of fraud.

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