JACKSON – A Texas man was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison in connection with the fraudulent purchase of a 2023 Ford Shelby F-150 valued at $130,850 from a local automobile dealership.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in May 2023, Mario Martinez Smiley, 57, of Fort Worth, Texas, fraudulently obtained an expensive truck from a Jackson dealership by representing himself to be another individual and using someone else’s credit card number to make a $5,000 down payment on the truck.
Smiley was recruited by an individual in Texas to pick up vehicles in exchange for $1,000 each. Smiley induced a salesperson from the dealership to meet him in Ruston, La., where he took possession of the truck after posing for a photograph with it.
Smiley was indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 4, 2025. Smiley pleaded guilty to wire fraud on May 21.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi, U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Davis, and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch made the announcement.
The United States Secret Service and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office are investigating the case through their partnership in the Cyber Fraud Task Force.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly T. Purdie is prosecuting the case.
