Providence man to serve 15 months, pay $150,000 for odometer rollback scheme
Published on Monday, July 28, 2025
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced today that a Providence man has been sentenced in Providence County Superior Court to serve 15 months at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) and pay $150,000 in restitution for defrauding consumers by selling motor vehicles with significant “rollbacks” on their odometers.
On July 23, 2025, Pablo Beato (age 53) pleaded nolo contendere 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. Superior Court Justice R. David Cruise sentenced the defendant to 15 years with 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.
“Fortunately, this defendant’s scheme ran out of gas,” said Attorney General Neronha. “We see no shortage of deceptive trade practices in Rhode Island, and we prosecute offenders both civilly and criminally to protect consumers from bad actors who wish to take advantage of them. I’m grateful to the investigators in my Office for their excellent work in bringing this defendant to justice and returning $150,000 in restitution to the victims. Remember: no consumer problem is too big or too small for our Office. We’ve got your back.”
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that between 2018 and 2021, the defendant tampered with and rolled back the odometers of 42 vehicles, which he eventually sold to consumers.
In early 2020, investigators with the Rhode Island State Police (RISP) received multiple reports from the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles regarding forged certificates of title. Upon further review, both titles revealed damage to the documents’ security features consistent with writing over the odometer mileage disclosures to reflect lower mileage than was actually reported. The owners of both vehicles reported buying their vehicles from the defendant at P.B. Auto Repair & Import, LLC located on Cranston Street in Providence.
On February 17, 2020, RISP 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 the defendant had moved his sales location to his home on Kenwood Street in Providence.
Investigators subsequently obtained search warrants for several social media accounts and physical addresses associated with the defendant. 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 to reflect lower mileage counts.
Assistant Attorneys General Jeffrey Morin and John Moreira of the Office of the Attorney General and Detective Stephen W. Brown of the Rhode Island State Police led the investigation and prosecution of the case.
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