Home Economy Economic Activity Providence auto dealer given 15-month prison term for rolling back odometers

Providence auto dealer given 15-month prison term for rolling back odometers

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PBN Staff

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07/28/2025

A CITY AUTO dealer has been sentenced to 15 months in prison and 15 years of probation after pleading no contest for selling 42 cars that he tampered with the odometers to reflect lower milage counts, R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced Monday. / COURTESY R.I. OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL

PROVIDENCE – A city auto dealer has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading no contest for selling 42 cars after tampering with the odometers to lower the mileage counts, R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office said Monday. Pablo Beato, 53, of Providence, pleaded no contest to one count of conspiracy to

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PROVIDENCE – A city auto dealer has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading no contest for selling 42 cars after tampering with the odometers to lower the mileage counts, R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha's office said Monday. Pablo Beato, 53, of Providence, pleaded no contest to one count of conspiracy to tamper with odometers, one count of conspiracy to obtain money under false pretenses, and one count of conspiracy to commit forgery. R.I. Superior Court Justice R. David Cruise sentenced Beato to 15 months to serve at the ACI and 15 years of probation. The judge also ordered the defendant to pay $150,000 in restitution over 15 years. Beato sold the vehicles at P.B. Auto Repair & Import LLC between 2018 and 2021. In 2020, investigators with the R.I. State Police received multiple reports from the R.I. Division of Motor Vehicles of forged certificates of title. The probe found two titles that revealed damage to the documents’ security features consistent with writing over the odometer mileage disclosures to reflect lower mileage than was actually reported. On Feb. 17, 2020, state police investigators visited the dealership to inspect the business and advised the defendant by telephone that he did not have the proper licensing to sell motor vehicles in Rhode Island. The following day, investigators drove by the dealership and noticed that the business appeared closed, with all vehicles previously displayed at the property removed. In April 2020, investigators observed that Beato had moved his sales location to his home on Kenwood Street in Providence. Through the warrants and surveillance of the properties, investigators determined that the defendant used Facebook and Craigslist to post vehicles for sale and sold 42 vehicles with odometers that had been tampered with. Assistant Attorneys General Jeffrey Morin and John Moreira of the R.I. Office of the Attorney General and Detective Stephen W. Brown of the state police led the investigation and prosecution of the case.