Vegas smog test fraud nets prison term
A former emission control inspector was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison and six months of home detention in a family-run scheme to submit phony smog test results to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.
Henry A. Batista, 30, also got a stern lecture from Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George to stay away from alcohol and illegal substances.
“If you come back to see me because of any violations, bring your toothbrush,” George told Batista, who has two alcohol-related DUIs. “I’ll put you away as long as I can.”
George also told Batista he would be “stupid” and a “joke” if he returned to using alcohol after prison and suggested he stay away from people who might use alcohol, including his girlfriend, an adult entertainer.
Batista will have to serve 2 1/2 years of supervised release after prison. He has until Oct. 3 to surrender to federal prison authorities.
Earlier Batista apologized to his family for his actions in the smog check scheme.
“I feel terrible standing before you today,” he told George. “I worked hard all my life. I know I let everyone down.”
Batista pleaded guilty in March to making a false statement to the DMV, which oversees the vehicle smog check program in Nevada for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
His March 2013 indictment alleges he submitted more than 500 false emission inspection reports to the DMV from local smog check kiosks between July 2009 and March 2013.
His older brother, Luis R. Batista, 32, pleaded guilty to the same false statement charge and was sentenced in May to the six months he served in federal custody while waiting to resolve his case and several months of home detention. He also was placed on three years of supervised release.
Batista, also a former licensed inspector, admitted submitting 150 false emission inspection reports to the DMV between March 2008 and August 2010, prosecutors alleged.
According to court documents, the brothers falsified emission certificates for a vehicle that could not pass the tests by entering identifying information for the vehicle into an emission analyzer and then connecting another vehicle to the analyzer.
In the process, the defendants obtained false vehicle inspection report printouts to provide to their customers.
The Batistas and a third brother who participated in the scheme performed more than 1,500 illegal smog checks, prosecutors alleged.
The other brother has not been charged in the investigation, conducted by the FBI, the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and state agents.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ.
