ST. BERNARD PARISH, La. — Three men are in jail after the St. Bernard sheriff’s office seized a large stockpile of fake temporary license plates.
Deputies say they recovered more than 200 counterfeit and forged Louisiana and Texas Department of Motor Vehicles inspection certificates, Louisiana license plate registration stickers, and blank temporary Louisiana license plates.
State OMV Commissioner Dan Casey thanked law enforcement for shutting down this alleged operation.
“It’s a great day and I appreciate law enforcement’s in getting these fraudulent, counterfeit tags off the street,” Casey said. “It’s good for our public. It’s good for public safety.”
According to documents obtained by WWL Louisiana, deputies discovered the forgery operation while investigating a narcotics case involving Charles Baily, 40.
Investigators say when they went to arrest Bailey at his home in the 9000 block of Virtue Street in Chalmette, they found fraudulent plates and stickers.
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley said some of the fake tags found on vehicles in Kenner and other parts of Jefferson Parish have been traced to St. Bernard.
“In Kenner, it’s a mandatory arrest, unless there are some extenuating circumstances,” Conley said. “I think since June 1, we’ve probably taken 70, 72 people to jail behind a fraudulent tag.”
One neighbor on Virtue Street told us that if there was an illegal enterprise operating on the block, it was a quiet one.
“I’ve never really seen, like seen it in the community or any violence or any drugs or anything like that,” King Tassin said. “It’s kind of like shocking.”
In addition to Bailey, Elbert Allen, 54 from New Orleans, and Theodore Lenaris, 61, were arrested on counts of forgery involving vehicle compliance and registration materials.
Commissioner Casey and Chief Conley are now pushing for higher penalties for this sort of crime.
“Up the cost of the fine for someone operating with an illegal temp tag,” Casey said. “Right now, the fine is only $100.”
“We’re going to have to meet with our state legislators,” Conley said. “We’ve already done that and take care of this on a state level.”
According to law enforcement, behind every fraudulent tag is usually an unlicensed or uninsured driver.
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