One of the most audacious fraud schemes in recent Texas history has ended with a prison sentence and a massive price tag.
Federal authorities say Emmanuel Padilla Reyes, 35, who is not a U.S. citizen, has been sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $22 million in restitution after orchestrating a massive operation that flooded Texas streets with over 550,000 counterfeit paper license plates.
The fake tags, often taped inside car windshields, were sold through fake online dealerships and payment apps like Zelle and Cash App. Investigators say many of the vehicles using those bogus plates were later linked to drug trafficking, human smuggling, robbery, and even a fatal crash in New York.
Reyes used stolen identities to set up sham dealerships that allowed him to generate temporary tags through Texas’ legitimate vehicle registration system. After he was indicted in 2022, he fled the state and spent time in Colorado before being captured in Sugar Land last year.
He wasn’t the only one involved - several co-conspirators have also been convicted and sentenced—but Reyes was the operation’s ringleader.
After serving his time in federal prison, officials say Reyes is likely to be deported.
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