Car odometer roll-back case puts consumers on guard

PUYALLUP, Wash. – The sentencing of four Puyallup men who pleaded guilty to selling used cars after conspiracy to tamper with and roll back car odometers is not a criminal case that comes up very often.

That’s because it’s a crime that’s not always easily detectable.

Steve Swanlund, the owner of 15th Street Automotive in Puyallup, said it’s a crime that’s actually quite prevalent, he believes.

“I guarantee it happens all the time,” he said. “This is the first time that I’ve heard someone getting caught for it but it happens a lot. Consumers have to be smart.”

Swanlund said rolling back an odometer is easier to do these days because everything in cars is electronic. All offenders need to do is enter into the car’s dash and manipulate the computerized system, he said.

Ricky Ristick, 23, and his father Robert “Bob” Ristick, 42, pleaded guilty to rolling back odometers on 36 automobiles. Miller Stevens, 32, and his brother Stanley Stevens, 28, also pleaded guilty to rolling back odometers, on 39 vehicles.

The four men, according to a U.S. attorney press release, operated under the names One Stop Auto and RSV Auto. In selling the tampered vehicles to unsuspecting consumers, the four Puyallup residents pleaded guilty to $144,000 and $156,000 in fraud losses, respectively.

The men will be sentenced in January. In one example of the crime, the Risticks bought a vehicle in Oregon from a private seller with 192,000 miles for $7,800. They soon had an auto repair shop roll back the odometer to 64,521 miles and sold it for $15,000.

“Do research on the company you’re purchasing through,” advised Jennifer Cook with AAA Washington. “Get a CarFax report on the vehicle with an odometer reading and history. So, if the odometer reading is different, you know there is an issue.”