Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed a five-count indictment on May 19-20, 2026, charging 11 defendants with wire fraud and access device fraud in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulent temporary license plates from licensed auto dealerships [1]. The defendants allegedly used those plates to evade approximately $15 million in tolls, parking violations, and vehicle registration fees across the New York metropolitan area [1]. Authorities arrested the defendants over the two-day period following the unsealing.
The indictment centers on the exploitation of New York's dealer-issued temporary tag system, which allows licensed auto dealerships to issue short-term registration documents to customers pending permanent plate issuance. Prosecutors allege the defendants obtained fraudulent temp tags through dealerships and redistributed them for use on vehicles whose operators sought to avoid detection by traffic enforcement systems [1]. Investigators determined that vehicles bearing the fraudulent plates were linked to approximately 1,200 NYPD incident reports, including at least six homicides [1]. The wire fraud charges carry a statutory maximum of 20 years per count; access device fraud carries a maximum of 10 years per count.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton and FBI New York Field Office Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. are the senior officials associated with the prosecution [1]. Lead defendants Felix DeJesus Jimenez and Ramon Eligio DeJesus Peralta are named in the indictment [1]. The FBI's New York Field Office led the investigation. The case is being prosecuted out of the White Plains division of SDNY, which covers Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan counties in addition to Manhattan.
The indictment signals coordinated federal attention on what has been a persistent enforcement gap: temporary dealer tags in New York and other states are often not entered into real-time license plate recognition databases, making fraudulent plates difficult to flag during routine traffic stops or toll camera scans [1]. The $15 million loss figure aggregates evaded tolls, unissued parking fines, and unpaid registration fees, and does not account for investigative costs or the public-safety costs associated with the 1,200 linked incidents. Whether the dealerships that issued the fraudulent tags face civil or regulatory exposure has not been addressed in the charging documents made public to date.
The defendants are expected to be arraigned in federal court in White Plains. No trial date has been set. Defense counsel for the named defendants has not been publicly identified in the released documents.