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Man Pleads Guilty After Trying to Pass Off Rebuilt Stolen Escalade As GMC Yukon

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A man pleaded guilty to felony charges after he tried to pass off a stolen Cadillac Escalade as a GMC Yukon, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said on Monday.

Kevin Johnson, 38, plead to charges of receiving stolen property and filing a fraudulent document with the DMV. He could face up to a year in county jail.

In April 2010, Johnson bought the Escalade for $8,500. Unbeknownst to him, the previous owner of the car owed $28,000 on it and reported it as stolen to the Sacramento Police Department and his car insurance company.

When he found he out he was scammed, Johnson contacted the California Highway Patrol who told him that since the SAFE Credit Union legally owned the car, it was considered stolen and it needed to be inspected by the CHP. Johnson refused that inspection.

Instead, Johnson spent the next few months and thousands of dollars replacing the frame and body of the Escalade with a Yukon frame and body he found at a salvage yard. He then registered the car as a Yukon under his girlfriend's name.

After trying to evade a DUI checkpoint in August 2011, Johnson was arrested when officer's discovered the Yukon was the stolen Escalade.

Johnson is not related to Sacramento mayor and former NBA star Kevin Johnson.

 

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