Man pleads guilty to Conspiracy in scheme to roll back odometers - WBAY

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - A man indicted in a scheme to roll back odometers on used vehicles and sell them to unsuspecting buyers has been convicted in federal court in Green Bay.

Robert Solberg appeared before a federal judge Friday for a plea hearing. He pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy. Five other counts in the indictment will be dismissed at sentencing on May 1.

Federal prosecutors say Solberg and Joshua A. Taylor conspired to alter odometers on high-mileage vehicles in order to sell them at a higher price.

Taylor has also agreed to plead guilty to Conspiracy in a plea agreement with the federal government. Five other counts will be dismissed at sentencing. His hearing has not taken place yet.

The Conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

During Friday's hearing, the judge asked Solberg if he rolled back the odometers or ordered someone else to do it. He replied that both he and Taylor took part in the tampering.

Federal prosecutors say Solberg and Taylor sold about 22 vehicles with altered odometers to buyers "based on false and fraudulent representations and promises regarding the mileage on the vehicles, the vehicles' history, and the vehicles' operating conditions.”

In early 2019, victims started filing complaints with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The DOT reported it to Green Bay Police.

A Brown County man had reported buying a GMC Yukon for $4,100 on Craigslist. He said he made the purchase from a man he didn't know. He thought "the handwritten mileage on the title appeared forged from 214,450 miles to 114,459 miles."

The odometer read the lower mileage, but was displaying an error code. He suspected some had "tampered with" it.

Police tracked down the original owner, who informed them that he had sold it days earlier--at nearly half the price. He said the vehicle had twice as many miles on it when he sold it.

The victim's family started searching Craigslist and found more cars from the seller. There were listings around the state.

Police found another victim from Green Bay. He had purchased a vehicle that showed 114,000 miles on the odometer. However, he learned the vehicle's real mileage was 300,000.

Action 2 News broke news of the investigation last June. On June 3, Green Bay Police executed search warrants at Solberg's home, Taylor's home, and a storage facility on Green Bay's east side.

Warrants reveal that during searches of three properties, police seized six vehicles, phones, keys, titles, more than $4,000 in cash, and an odometer cluster--a tool used to alter mileage on a vehicle.

Officers also found multiple odometers. One was in a cardboard box. It had been shipped to Robert Solberg, warrants show.

Text messages and emails between Solberg and Taylor show discussions about how many miles to roll back the odometer on specific vehicles and what price they should advertise.

Taylor was in the Marinette County Jail in late 2018 and early 2019 on an unrelated matter. Phone calls recorded in the jail confirm he continued to conspire with Solberg on the odometer fraud.

"In addition to Solberg and Taylor's devices and text messages implicating them as the culprits, victims who purchased the vehicles were able to identify Solberg or Taylor as the individual with whom they had met for the purchase of the vehicle," reads the plea agreement.

After reports aired on Action 2 News, more victims came forward to identify Solberg and Taylor as the culprits.

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Man pleads guilty to Conspiracy in scheme to roll back odometers - WBAY
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