Sentence Handed In Car-Buying Scheme Investigated By Vernon Cops

MANCHESTER, CT — A Manchester man has been sentenced to five years in prison in an identity theft and fraud case investigated by federal authorities and Vernon police.

Leonard C. Boyle, acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said Thursday that Jaime Pinto, 45, of Manchester, was sentenced a day earlier by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 60 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for fraud and identity theft offenses stemming from his involvement in a scheme to use stolen identities to lease and purchase vehicles and motorcycles.

According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning in late 2017, Pinto, Domingo St. Hilaire Rosario and "another individual" conspired to use stolen identities to obtain vehicles and motorcycles at dealerships in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

As part of the scheme, Rosario arranged for a car or motorcycle to be purchased or leased from a dealership in the name of an identity theft victim, and Pinto or another co-conspirator impersonated the identity theft victim at the dealership to complete the paperwork, case records indicate. Rosario supplied Pinto and others with fraudulent identification documents bearing other people's personal identifying information, and with a fraudulent photo identification that contained the identifying information of the victims and photographs of "a co-conspirator," according to case records.

Rosario intended to sell or export the vehicles, Boyle said.

Through the scheme, Rosario, Pinto and their "co-conspirators" acquired at least 13 vehicles and attempted to acquire at least two more, Boyle said. Some of the vehicles were recovered by investigators and returned to the dealers, he said

On March 20, 2019, Pinto pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. He has been detained since July 2019 after he violated conditions of his release and his bond was revoked, Boyle said.

On May 10, 2021, Rosario pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. On October 20, 2021, Judge Bryant sentenced him to 65 months of imprisonment.

Judge Bryant ordered Rosario and Pinto to pay $203,873.11 in restitution.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations, with "substantial assistance" from the Vernon Police Department, Boyle said.