Auto Shop Targeted in Smog Check Case : Courts: Two men face felony counts in a major crackdown, becoming first of dozens to be bound over for trial.

Operators of a Canoga Park auto repair shop who were charged in a major crackdown on sales of fraudulent smog certificates Monday became the first of dozens of defendants to be bound over for trial.

After a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles Municipal Court, Judge Richard Kossow found probable cause to hold Gerald P. Benson, operator of Jerry Benson Automotive, and Raymond E. Duff, a former mechanic at the shop, for trial on four felony counts each. Both were released on their personal recognizance and are scheduled for arraignment March 8.

It was the first preliminary hearing for about 40 auto repair shop operators and mechanics in Los Angeles County who were arrested in December in the biggest campaign against trafficking in phony vehicle test certificates in the nine-year history of the state Smog Check program. Preliminary hearings for other defendants are scheduled in the next few weeks.

Twenty three Smog Check stations were targeted in the sweep, conducted by a task force that included representatives of the state Bureau of Automotive Repair and Air Resources Board. Authorities said the shops together issued more than 116,000 smog certificates and estimated that more than 80% were fraudulent.

“It was nice to confirm that these are pretty clear-cut cases and are fairly simple to present,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Erica Martin after the nearly three-hour preliminary hearing. “I don’t think anybody in the court really questioned what had occurred, in terms of issuing these fraudulent certificates.”

But Donald Stricklin, attorney for Duff, called the evidence against his client “very, very thin,” and expressed confidence that Duff will be acquitted.

Bruce Hill, attorney for Benson, described his client as “a very, very low-level player,” and said there have been preliminary discussions about a settlement.

Vehicles are the biggest cause of air pollution in the Los Angeles area, and the Smog Check program is the main weapon in reducing their emissions. The sale of phony smog certificates means “increased air pollution and basically gutting the effectiveness of the Smog Check program,” Martin said.

“A side effect is that legitimate businesses that are trying to perform these checks legally are being robbed of their clientele.”

But Martin acknowledged that the Benson shop was “definitely not among the biggest” violators, some of whom are accused of furnishing phony certificates to taxi firms and other operators of vehicle fleets.

In a smog test, the vehicle identification number of a car is entered in a computer while an electronic probe inserted in the tailpipe provides test results. Like other defendants, Benson and Duff were accused of entering the identification numbers of dirty cars or cars they never tested while testing the exhaust from a cleaner car.

They were charged in connection with three allegedly phony certificates issued between Oct. 16 and Nov. 2 of last year.

Both men are charged with two counts of perjury by false statements--each punishable by up to four years in prison--and two counts of computer fraud, punishable by up to three years imprisonment.

Nine of the 23 smog shops implicated in the probe are in the San Fernando Valley and Glendale. They include: Alignment Plus, Reseda; Stewarts Electronic Tune-Up, Van Nuys; Dependable Auto Hyundai, North Hollywood; The Smog Shop and U.B.A. Automotive, Tujunga; and C.D. Crill & Son Automotive, Happy’s Mobil, and Shahinian Unocal, all of Glendale.