Texan sentenced to 7 years in prison for fake temporary license plates

A Texas man was sentenced Wednesday to 93 months in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain and sell hundreds of thousands of Texas-issued paper license plates.

Daniel Rocky Christine-Tani, 35, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy after prosecutors said he worked with several others to register fake used car dealerships and request temporary buyer license plates from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. The group then sold the plates online without actually selling cars, with the plates often ending up in the hands of people who used them to conceal their identities while committing violent crimes, officials said.

Court records do not say how many tags the group sold, but say it received more than 700,000 temporary tags from the state of Texas over the course of several years.

Douglas Williams, FBI Special Agent in Charge in Houston, said in the press release that Christine-Tani and his partners enabled criminals to commit crimes without fear of consequences.

“This paper tag system allowed criminals to use fake Texas shopper tags while committing violent crimes such as drive-by shootings and armed robberies,” Williams said. “FBI agents in Houston proudly worked with law enforcement partners across the country to uncover this conspiracy that put so many American lives at risk.”

In addition to his 93-month prison sentence, Christine-Tani must serve three years of probation after the end of his sentence and pay $3.4 million in restitution to the Texas DMV, a Department of Justice press release said.

Christian Capitaine, Christine-Tani's lawyer, declined to comment on his client's case.

The case was heard in federal court in Houston. According to the press release, Christine-Tani is a Dallas resident but formerly lived in Houston. Another defendant in the case, Leidy Areli Hernandez Lopez, lived in Houston, while a third defendant, Octavian Ocasio, lived in New York.

Hernandez Lopez was sentenced earlier this year to 30 months in prison, followed by two years of probation and $316,000 in restitution after pleading guilty last year. Ocasio received a 53-month sentence, three years of probation and $324,000 in restitution after pleading guilty last year.

The release said a fourth co-conspirator, Emmanuel Padilla Reyes, remains on the run. Officials said he is also known by the aliases Christian Hernandez Bonilla or Noel Rivera. The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Information can be submitted by calling 1-800-call-FBI or emailing TIPS.FBI.GOV.