A man was found guilty of a scheme that resulted in over $400,000 worth of stolen vehicles across Southern California.
The suspect, Jean Parret, targeted car dealerships in multiple counties including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Kern and San Diego counties, according to the California Attorney General’s Office.
Between November 2021 and February 2022, Parret used victims’ stolen identities to open lines of credit and purchase numerous high-end vehicles from car dealerships, authorities said.
The total amount of stolen vehicles is estimated at over $400,000, according to court documents, with many dealerships victimized in the scheme.
A large amount of the stolen vehicles were eventually transported across the border to Mexico for displacement, officials said.
“His victims included not only the lenders and dealerships who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but also the identity theft victims who were left dealing with the financial, legal, and emotional impacts of having their identity stolen and their credit damaged,” said the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
“These are not victimless crimes,” said Orange County District Attorney, Todd Spitzer. “Becoming the victim of identity theft can have profound consequences that can take years if not decades to overcome, including having credit histories ruined and losing the ability to qualify for employment opportunities and housing as a result of financial predators.”
“The defendant’s pattern of stealing identities to purchase high-end cars was part of a criminal operation that was stopped in its tracks,” said San Diego District Attorney, Summer Stephan.
Parret was sentenced to 11 years in state prison for charges connected to his extensive identity and auto theft scheme.
His guilty plea and sentencing were the result of an investigation led by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Taskforce for Regional Auto-Theft Prevention (TRAP). Parret also pled guilty to cases prosecuted by the Orange and San Diego counties’ District Attorney Offices.