Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that three men who operate a private auto inspection business in Paterson pleaded guilty today to fraudulently using data simulators to generate false results for motor vehicle emissions inspections. The men took payments from customers in return for using the electronic devices to generate passing results for vehicles that had failed emissions inspections, which rely on data from onboard diagnostic systems.
Each of the following three defendants pleaded guilty today before Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian in Bergen County to third-degree charges of tampering with public records and violating the Air Pollution Control Act:
Christopher Alcantara, 29, of Paterson, owner of Five Stars Auto Inspection, which is located at 34 1st Avenue in Paterson; Mariano Alcantara, 52, of Clifton, (an uncle of Christopher Alcantara); and Lewis Alcantara-Sosa, 23, of Paterson, (cousin of Christopher and nephew of Mariano).
Under the plea agreements, the state will recommend that each man be sentenced to 364 days in the county jail and a minimum of three years of probation. The three men were indicted on Oct. 9, 2014, as the result of a joint investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Deputy Attorney General Debra Conrad took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau. Judge Jerejian scheduled sentencing for the three men for May 8.
Most passenger cars and light-duty vehicles of model year 1996 or later have an onboard diagnostic (OBD) system that monitors the vehicle’s emissions system. During an OBD inspection, an inspector at a private inspection facility (PIF) or a central inspection facility (CIF) connects state-approved inspection equipment to a standardized “data link connector” in the vehicle to retrieve OBD data in order to determine whether the vehicle passes or fails.
The state’s investigation revealed that, on numerous occasions from Sept 2013 through January 2014, when they were initially charged, the defendants temporarily installed OBD simulators in place of the data link connector in vehicles that had failed emissions inspections in order to generate false data that enabled the vehicles to pass inspection. The defendants charged between $80 and $150 in return for using an OBD simulator to enable the customer’s vehicle to pass the emissions inspection. They frequently installed the OBD simulator at Five Stars Auto Inspection, which is a PIF, but then took the vehicle to central inspection facilities, particularly the Lodi CIF. They also used the Paramus CIF.
During the course of the investigation, investigators conducted surveillance of the defendants and Five Stars Auto Inspection. In addition, they arranged for the defendants to install OBD simulators in two undercover vehicles so that they would pass inspection. On Jan. 15, 2013, investigators executed a search warrant at Five Stars Auto Inspection, where they seized evidence including six OBD simulators and records. Christopher and Mariano Alcantara were arrested that day and lodged in jail with bail set at $50,000 for each. Lewis Alcantara-Sosa was charged by summons and released.