People v. Mehtizada CA6

I. BACKGROUND1

In April 2016, G.S. paid $7,000 to buy a 2008 Toyota Prius from Mehtizada. The ad for the car described it as in good condition, with 68,000 miles. Mehtizada was never

1 Because Mehtizada pleaded guilty prior to trial, we derive the facts from the preliminary hearing transcript. the licensed owner of the Prius, nor was he a licensed automobile dealer. He did not disclose to G.S. any issues with the car’s odometer. As of the May 17, 2019, preliminary hearing, the Prius was “broken” and “not working.” In December 2018, M.M. paid $8,000 to buy a 2006 Honda Pilot from Mehtizada, who claimed to be its original owner. As with G.S., Mehtizada did not disclose to M.M. any issue with the Pilot’s odometer, which reflected approximately 68,000 miles. But on his way home from the purchase, M.M. became suspicious when he noticed several dashboard lights were not functioning. As it turned out, a previous registered owner had sold the Pilot to a third party for $2,600 with over 200,000 miles. M.M. would not have purchased the vehicle had he known it actually had more than 200,000 miles on it. Mehtizada was arrested after attempting to sell a third vehicle to investigators…