A Pennsylvania man was recently sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted in a federal court of tampering with an odometer and forging vehicle titles.
Earnest Fry, 49, of Harrisburg, Pa., pleaded guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court. He was ordered to pay $47,000 in restitution along with serving two and half years in prison.
According to the U.S. Middle District of Pennsylvania, Fry was on parole when he started purchasing used vehicles, altering the mileage. U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam said in a press release that Fry would replace or reset the odometer on the vehicles. He is suspected to have sold 55 vehicles and rolled back more than 5 million miles. Fry also was found to have altered titles to reflect the lower mileage of the vehicles he sold at inflated prices.
The case is not an isolated incident and stresses the importance of purchasing from a licensed dealer. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates more than 450,000 vehicles are purchased each year with altered odometer readings, costing buyers more than $1 billion. A CARFAX study from last year showed a 14 percent rise in vehicles with rolled-back odometers. California had a reported 469,000 vehicles with rolled-back odometers and Texas 277,000.
