Odometer Cheating and Moving Stolen Cars Nets Man 6 1/2 Years

A Villa Park man was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison for his conviction on charges of rolling back odometers on used cars and trucks and transporting stolen vehicles across state lines, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.

Clifford Suva II, 48, also was ordered to pay $906,235 in restitution at his sentencing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Dec. 5. As part of his guilty plea to 10 felony counts, including conspiracy, fraud and money-laundering, Suva also agreed to forfeit $381,650 to the government.

In one scheme, Suva and others bought high-mileage cars, SUVs and trucks and rolled back the odometers, sometimes by as much as 100,000 miles. They altered titles and resold the cars to unsuspecting used-car dealers in California and three other Western states. The losses to consumers were estimated at $500,000, said Linda Marks, a Justice Department trial lawyer.

In the second scheme, Suva acquired 20 luxury cars at a wholesale auction, gave them new titles in phony dealer names and sold them in other states without ever paying for them. The loss was estimated at $458,000.

Suva’s sons Nathan, 27, and Clifford III, 30, both of Moreno Valley, also pleaded guilty to charges--Nathan in both schemes, Clifford in the stolen-car scheme--and have been sentenced to 15 months and 18 months, respectively.