‘Used Car King’ gets 5 years for fake Texas tag scheme

A multiyear scheme involving the sale of “hundreds of thousands” of fake Texas buyer’s tags and temporary paper license plates has landed a New York man in prison for nearly five years, and three others in hot water with federal authorities.

Octavian Ocasio, who advertised himself as the “Used Car King of New York,” appeared in a federal court in Houston earlier this month and pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges stemming from a plot involving the creation of phony car dealerships, which allowed him and his alleged co-conspirators to sell and issue more than 700,000 fake temporary Texas buyer tags without actually selling any cars, according to court records.

“Octavian is a good man of good morals who made a horrible decision during hard economic times,” his defense attorney, Cordt Akers, said in a statement. “While the sentence is higher than what we requested, we’re pleased the Judge recognized his true character and we expect his release around or within a year.”

Leidy Areli Hernandez Lopez and Daniel Rocky Christine-Tani, who live in the Houston area, and Emmanuel Padilla Reyes, whose residence is unknown, are named as co-conspirators in the ploy that began in July 2019 and ended in January 2021, court documents said.

Reyes and Lopez are accused of masterminding the scheme when they allegedly opened five fraudulent car dealerships from 2018 to 2020, including “Kings Ranch Autoland, “Texas Motor Company,” “McKenna of Houston LLC, “L.C.S. Auto Sales” and “Best Auto Motor LLC.”

Reyes opened Kings Ranch

Autoland in April 2018 with a fake Florida driver’s license and identity, going by the name “Noel Rivera,” according to court documents.

Kings Ranch Autoland closed in March 2020 after issuing more than 120,000 Texas buyer tags, court records said. He then allegedly opened the

Texas Motor Company in July 2019 with someone else’s identity and Social Security number, but before closing in December 2020, more than 430,000 Texas buyer tags were issued.

Lopez is accused of issuing more than 108,000 buyer tags out of a fake dealership, Best Auto Motor LLC from May 2020 to July 2020.

The other two phony car dealerships managed to issue a combined 46,900 Texas buyer tags, according to court documents.

Ocasio admitted to emailing the fake Texas buyer tags to customers through Gmail and accepting Cash App payments.

Tani is accused of sending iMessages of the fraudulent buyer tags to the other co-conspirators and also accepting Cash App payments, court records said.

Lopez and Ocasio have accepted plea agreements, while the other two defendants have yet to go to trial. Lopez is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20.

In addition to prison time, Ocasio will have to participate in a mental health treatment program and pay $324,600 in restitution to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

Harris County Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen Octavian Ocasio of New York was sentenced to nearly five years in prison while his three alleged co-conspirators face charges in a fake Texas paper plate and buyer’s tags scheme.