Press Release  Brockton Man Found Guilty, Sentenced in Connection with Counterfeit Motor Vehicle Inspection Scheme

Boston — A Brockton man has been found guilty and sentenced in connection with running a counterfeit inspection scheme with his father out of their Dorchester auto shop, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Following a three day trial, a Suffolk Superior Court jury found Tommy Sostre, age 30, of Brockton, guilty on Wednesday of charges of Uttering or Publishing as True a Counterfeit Motor Vehicle Inspection Sticker and Forging a Counterfeit Motor Vehicle Inspection Sticker.

Judge Linda Giles today sentenced Sostre to three years of probation with the conditions that he surrender all inspection station and inspector licenses and not perform inspections while on probation. Judge Giles also ordered that Sostre pay a $2,000 fine.

"Emissions tests are designed to keep our roads safe and our air clean, but this defendant and his father ran an inspection scam that created and sold sham inspection stickers for cars that otherwise would not have passed,” said AG Healey. “This scheme intentionally violated the law that protects the air we breathe and put the safety of those who use our roads at risk.”

“Fraudulent acts, such as falsifying inspection stickers, cut to the heart of the emissions inspection program’s mission to protect public health and the environment,” said Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Commissioner Martin Suuberg. “We will continue to aggressively pursue violators who attempt to compromise this important air quality program.”

“Safety and emissions inspection rules are in place to protect the public and the environment. This verdict helps ensure the safety of all those who travel on the Commonwealth’s roadways,” said Registrar of Motor Vehicles Erin C. Deveney. “We appreciate and share the commitment of our law enforcement and environmental partners to detect and end this type of fraudulent activity.”

Sostre’s father, Jose Sostre, age 63, of Avon, ran the scheme with him and pleaded guilty in August 2015 to the charges of Counterfeiting Motor Vehicle Inspection Stickers, Uttering or Publishing as True Counterfeit Motor Vehicle Inspection Stickers, Conspiracy to Counterfeit Motor Vehicle Inspection Stickers, Conspiracy to Utter or Publishing as True Counterfeit Inspection Stickers, and Possession of a Firearm without a Firearms Identification (FID) Card.

Jose Sostre was sentenced in August 2015 to one year in the House of Correction, 90 days to serve followed by a three-year probationary period in connection with the scheme. He was required to pay a $5,000 fine, surrender his motor vehicle inspector’s license and is not to conduct any motor vehicle inspections for the term of his probation.

The state's motor vehicle inspection program, a joint program with the MassDEP and the RMV, requires yearly safety tests for all motor vehicles. Passenger vehicles that are less than 15 years old are subject to yearly safety and emission inspections, which can only be conducted at facilities licensed by the RMV. Inspection tests can only be conducted by people licensed by the RMV. The program is designed to ensure only safe and clean vehicles operate on the state's roads.

In the spring of 2013, the AG’s Office began investigating this case after it was referred by MassDEP and the RMV. Working in conjunction with those agencies as well as the Massachusetts Environmental Police, the AG’s investigation revealed that, on specific dates in September 2013, Tommy and Jose Sostre created and issued counterfeit inspection stickers at Tony's Auto Repair and Body Shop in Dorchester, where they worked as licensed inspectors. Specifically Tommy and Jose Sostre created fake “passing” inspection stickers for vehicles that had failed emissions testing. The investigation further revealed that Jose Sostre illegally possessed a firearm at the auto shop without having a FID card.

Tony’s Auto currently is not authorized to provide motor vehicle inspections. 

This investigation was handled by the Massachusetts Environmental Crimes Strike Force, which is comprised of prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office, Massachusetts Environmental Police Detectives assigned to the AG’s Office, and investigators and engineers from MassDEP who investigate and prosecute crimes that harm or threaten the state’s water, air, or land and that pose a significant threat to human health.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Tasnin Chowdhury, of the AG’s  Environmental Crimes Strike Force, and Sara Yoffe, of the AG’s Insurance and Unemployment Fraud Unit, with assistance from MassDEP, Massachusetts Environmental Police Detectives assigned to the Attorney General’s Office, MassDOT, RMV, and the AG’s Digital Evidence Lab.

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