TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a father and son who rolled
back the odometers on used cars they sold
at their two Vineland auto dealerships were
sentenced today for obtaining fraudulent
vehicle titles to match the false odometer
readings.
According
to Director Taylor, John R. Horstmann, 66,
and his son, Brian Horstmann, 38, both of
Woodbine, were sentenced today by Superior
Court Judge Robert P. Becker Jr. in Cumberland
County. Judge Becker sentenced John Horstmann,
who formerly owned B-Auto Sales, to four
years in state prison. The judge sentenced
Brian Horstmann, who formerly owned Cumberland
County Car Company, to four years of probation,
conditioned on him performing 150 hours
of community service and paying a $3,000
fine. Both dealerships are now out of business.
John
Horstmann pleaded guilty in January to second-degree
conspiracy to commit official misconduct,
a charge contained in a May 16, 2008 indictment.
Brian Horstmann pleaded guilty in January
to an amended count of third-degree conspiracy
to commit official misconduct.
The
two men admitted that between February 2001
and November 2003, they conspired with a
former employee at the Vineland Motor Vehicle
Agency, Gina Guzzi, 42, to obtain 89 fraudulent
vehicle titles reflecting false mileage
readings for vehicles sold by their used
car dealerships. An investigation by the
Division of Criminal Justice and the Motor
Vehicle Commission revealed that the defendants
rolled back the odometers on each vehicle
by tens of thousands of miles. They then
obtained fraudulent titles listing the lower
mileage. Guzzi pleaded guilty to conspiracy
to commit official misconduct and was sentenced
in 2008 to four years in prison.
Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Jacqueline D. Smith,
Deputy Chief of the Division of Criminal
Justice Major Crimes Bureau, and Deputy
Attorney General Jacqueline Cistaro prosecuted
the case and represented the state at the
sentencing hearing. The investigation was
conducted by Detective Michael Duffield
of the Division of Criminal Justice Major
Crimes Bureau and Investigator Jeffrey Streitz
of the Motor Vehicle Commission Security
and Investigations Unit.
The
investigation began in 2003, when the MVC
alerted the Division of Criminal Justice
about possible odometer tampering involving
vehicles titled by Cumberland County Car
Company.
### |
