Drew Mitchell Schreiber, an Orlando resident and owner of Central Florida Automotive Group (now Southeastern Credit Union Solutions), pleaded guilty Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida to three counts of odometer tampering.
Schreiber admitted to purchasing high-mileage used vehicles from wholesale automobile auctions across Florida. He then rolled back the vehicles’ odometers—sometimes by as much as 428,000 miles—before reselling them to unsuspecting used-car dealers through auto auctions or online platforms.
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These vehicles, falsely advertised as having lower mileage, were subsequently sold to buyers across the United States, allowing Schreiber to profit fraudulently.
In total, Schreiber manipulated the odometers of 140 vehicles. Many of these vehicles were more than 10 years old and carried “exempt” titles, which do not disclose actual mileage.
“Just because a motor vehicle may be exempt from mileage recording on a title does not give a dealer the right to roll back odometers,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “With vehicles remaining in use for longer periods of time, many Americans rely on older vehicles as their primary mode of transportation. Used car buyers deserve peace of mind knowing that the odometer reading in their vehicle is correct.”
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Schreiber exploited this exemption to hide the extent of his fraudulent activities.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. Schreiber’s sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory considerations.
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