NEWS BRIEFS : Car Smog Tester Sentenced for False Report

A Wilmington car repair shop owner pleaded no contest Thursday to charges he falsified a smog certificate for an undercover state agent conducting a “sting” operation at local smog check facilities.

Andrew Park, 34, was sentenced to either 60 days in County Jail or 60 days service on a Caltrans work crew and ordered to pay $9,265, according to Deputy City Atty. Don Kass. Park also was placed on three years summary probation and banned from conducting any smog check or smog equipment repairs during that time, Kass said.

According to the Bureau of Automotive Repair investigator who checked Park’s GT Auto Center on east Anaheim Street last September, Park falsified a smog certificate for a car missing its catalytic converter by hooking up a different car to the emissions measuring machine that he knew would pass the test.

Park charged the undercover agent $50 for the illegal certificate, which was more than the standard rate of $25 to $30, Kass said.

Park has until Sept. 28 to prove to the court that he either served the jail time or completed the Caltrans work crew assignment. The case was heard by Judge Veronica Simmons McBeth.