Identity thief convicted in $500K luxury truck fraud set free following plea deal

An Ottawa man who admitted to stealing another man's identity to purchase about $500,000 worth of high-end trucks and SUVs is now out of jail.

An Ottawa man who admitted to stealing another man’s identity last year to purchase about $500,000 worth of high-end trucks and SUVs is now out of jail.

Pasquale Fonzo, 41, pleaded guilty in a Barrie courtroom following a joint submission by the Crown and defence that the judge reluctantly accepted.

Fonzo was handed a one-way bus ticket back to Ottawa for stealing the identity of a Hamilton man to buy high end SUVs and pickup trucks from three dealerships in Niagara Falls, Southwestern Ontario and Alliston.

Fonzo pleaded guilty to impersonating a vice principal from Stoney Creek 16 months after being charged with stealing the man’s identity to fraudulently purchase three new vehicles that included a GMC Sierra AT4, Ford F-150 Raptor, and Cadillac Escalade.

Fonzo was under investigation by the OPP in Alliston last February when police received a report of a man trying to buy a pickup truck from Ernie Dean Chevrolet by providing the dealership with insurance, a void cheque, and driver’s licence over the phone.

• Ont. man attempting to buy $100K truck from dealership with fake ID charged with fraud: OPP

Police said Fonzo told the dealership he was a vice principal of a school in Hamilton. Suspicious staff at the Alliston dealership called the buyer to confirm his plans to pick up the truck. The man informed the dealership he knew nothing about the GMC Sierra purchase. Police arrested Fonzo three days later when he showed up at the dealership to get the truck but ended up in the backseat of a police cruiser.

The court heard Fonzo’s scheme had previously been successful when he drove away with the Ford F-150 Raptor from a dealership in Watford, near Sarnia, worth more than $171,000. The truck was later found in a shipping container in the port of Montreal destined for overseas. The Cadillac Escalade, taken from a Niagara Falls dealership, worth $180,000 was never recovered. A free-standing restitution order was made by the court.

Justice Raymond Williams was not pleased with the joint submission to release Fonzo, who was credited with six months of time served in pre-sentence custody. He was arrested earlier after failing to appear in court in Bradford in January to address his charges.

The judge asked the Crown what motivated the prosecution to take such a “light touch” in setting Fonzo free. The court heard Fonzo had no criminal record but claimed to have mental health issues including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, though no medical records were provided to the court. The defence also said Fonzo had an alcohol addiction that began when he was 13.

Justice Williams said Fonzo’s crimes involved real documents, and a real victim who was harmed by having his identity stolen and used to commit fraud.

Justice Williams said the case had “organized crime overtones” involving the theft of high-end luxury vehicles being stolen and shipped abroad.

The judge said the joint sentencing proposal barely got “over the threshold” and that Fonzo’s crimes warranted well above the six months offered by the Crown, considering the tremendous impact auto theft has on the community. He was placed on probation for 18 months.

“I don’t want Mr. Fonzo to spend another minute in Simcoe County,” Justice Williams said while sentencing the fraudster.