Missouri Man Prisoned After Fraudulently Buying Cars With Fake Documents

A 45-year-old man in St. Louis is heading to prison for 51 months after fraudulently amassing a collection of five beloved American vehicles in a case that once again proves crime doesn’t pay. As if the prison sentence wasn’t enough, the man will also have to pay a significant amount of restitution.

An investigation by the US Secret Service, as well as several police departments in St. Louis, Missouri, Ohio, and elsewhere, found that Michael Calvin obtained the personal information of several victims from the dark web in the scheme. He also created fake licenses and identification cards based on a template of a Missouri driver’s license found online and, between November 1, 2023, and August 31, 2024, used this information to purchase five cars.

Read: GPS Quickly Turned A Dodge Durango Theft Into 9 More Years Behind Bars

The first of them was a Chevrolet Camaro, purchased in Iowa for $45,122. On February 24, 2024, he spent $43,967 on a Jeep Cherokee in Wisconsin. Two months later, on April 29, he was obviously feeling a need for speed and paid $90,785 to get behind the wheel of a Dodge Charger Hellcat in Tennessee.

Not satisfied, Calvin then purchased a Chevrolet Corvette – presumably a Stingray – for $61,175 in Oklahoma on July 8, 2024. A month later, on August 2, 2024, he paid $92,921 for a Dodge Durango in Wisconsin. All up, Calvin purchased $333,000 worth of vehicles in the space of less than a year.

Court documents reveal he attempted to sell the Durango on August 13 in St. Louis, but ended up getting shot. US District Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced the 45-year-old to 51 months in prison last week and also ordered him to pay $193,000 in restitution. While some of the vehicles have been recovered, others haven’t, although it’s unclear which stolen vehicles remain missing.