United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), James C. Barnacle, Jr., announced the arrests of eleven defendants in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme to evade tolls and parking and traffic tickets using fraudulently obtained temporary license plates. The defendants are charged in a five-count indictment with offenses including wire fraud and access device fraud. All eleven defendants were arrested between May 19, 2026 and May 20, 2026, and nine of the eleven are expected to appear in White Plains federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Victoria Reznik. Felix DeJesus Jimenez is expected to be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian S. Meyers in the Eastern District of North Carolina. RAMON ELIGIO DEJESUS PERALTA is expected to be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marty Fulgueira Elfenbein in the Southern District of Florida.
“For over five years, the defendants allegedly conspired to use fraudulently obtained temporary license plates, or ‘temp tags,’ to avoid fees, tolls, and parking traffic tickets,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Their schemes deprived New York State and New York City of millions of dollars in revenue. Hard-working, honest New Yorkers were footing their bills. This Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to protecting New Yorkers from fraud, waste, and abuse. The defendants allegedly spent years scheming to avoid tolls and tickets. Their bill has now come due.”
“These individuals allegedly turned temporary tags into tools for evading accountability, allowing drivers to dodge tolls, and lawful traffic penalties,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle. “Investigations found approximately a total of $15 million in unpaid parking violations, tolls, and vehicle registrations. Not only were millions of dollars in unpaid violations uncovered, but investigators also found that certain temporary registrations and license plates were linked to multiple criminal offenses. The FBI will not tolerate bad actors violating government rules.”
As alleged in the Indictments filed on May 13, 2026, in White Plains federal court:[1]
Licensed auto dealerships may issue temporary motor vehicle registrations (“temp tags” or “paper tags”) in connection with bona fide sales or leases of vehicles. In recent years, individuals have abused this system by setting up sham auto dealerships to generate fraudulent temp tags—unconnected to bona fide sales or leases of cars—that are then sold in, among other places, the Southern District of New York.
From at least in or about June 2017 through at least in or about March 2024, Felix DeJesus Jimenez, Julio Frias, Bladimir Tomas Valdez, Alba Nellys Rodriguez Gonzalez, Jefrey RAPHAEL Herrera Espinal, Sammy Rodriguez Francisco, Xavier Rodriguez Francisco, Clarisa Rodriguez Francisco, Cindy Rey, Luciano Moises Estrella, and RAMON ELIGIO DEJESUS PERALTA participated in a scheme to defraud New York State and New York City of revenue from vehicle registration fees, tolls, parking enforcement, and traffic enforcement, through the use of fraudulent temp tags.
As part of the scheme, the defendants created a series of companies for which they obtained used motor vehicle dealer licenses in the States of New Jersey and Georgia (the “Dealerships”). The defendants and their co-conspirators used those Dealerships to generate a total of more than 100,000 temp tags, a significant portion of which were registered to addresses in the Southern District of New York, and which they sold in the Southern District of New York and elsewhere at prices ranging from approximately $50 to $250 per tag, producing millions of dollars in profits. In selling temp tags, certain defendants represented at times, in sum and substance, that, by using a temp tag generated by a Dealership, customers would avoid having to pay tolls and/or tickets. Since at least in or around 2017, temp tags issued by the Dealerships have incurred at least approximately $11,800,000 in unpaid parking and traffic tickets in New York City and at least approximately $3,100,000 in unpaid E-ZPass tolls in New York State.
Temp tags issued by the Dealerships have been the subject of numerous complaints lodged with the New York Police Department and other law enforcement agencies, including by victims who have received bills for tolls and tickets that they did not incur. Additionally, temp tags issued by the Dealerships were involved in at least approximately 1,200 incidents reported to the NYPD, including at least six homicides.
FELIX DEJESUS JIMENEZ, age 62, of Englewood, NJ, JULIO FRIAS, age 61, of Teaneck, NJ, BLADIMIR TOMAS VALDEZ, age 30, of Manhattan, NY, RAMON ELIGIO DEJESUS PERALTA, age 52, of Miami, FL, ALBA NELLYS RODRIGUEZ GONZALEZ, age 25, of Bergenfield, NJ, JEFREY RAPHEL HERRERA ESPINAL, age 26, of Yonkers, NY, SAMMY RODRIGUEZ FRANCISCO, age 25, of Yonkers, NY, XAVIER RODRIGUEZ FRANCISCO, age 23, of Waterbury, CT, CLARISA RODRIGUEZ FRANCISCO, age 27, of Yonkers, NY, CINDY REY, age 28, of Hazleton, PA, and LUCIANO MOISES ESTRELLA, age 42, of West Milford, NJ, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, two counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment, and one count of access device fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.
The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of each defendant will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI’s New York Field Office, Westchester County Resident Agency, the New York Police Department, the New York State Troopers, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Special Investigations Unit, and the Georgia Department of Revenue Office of Special Investigations.
The case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jake Sidransky, Benjamin Klein, Stephanie Simon, and Daniel Listwa are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.