NJ Man Sold Phony Car Inspection Stickers, Prosecutors Say

WARREN COUNTY, NJ — A Warren County man has been arrested for selling fake vehicle inspection stickers, according to the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office.

Thomas J. Luster Sr., 57, of Washington, faces several charges for selling fraudulent New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) inspection stickers.

A four-month investigation was launched after authorities learned that counterfeit motor vehicle inspection stickers were being offered for sale.

Police found Luster to be responsible for the phony tags, and he was arrested on Thursday.

He now faces four counts of each of the following charges:

• Forgery, specifically by selling fraudulently numbered and bar-coded NJMVC inspection stickers,
• Utter a fraudulent document, specifically by offering for sale a NJMVC inspection sticker knowing it to be forged
• Criminal simulation, specifically by offering for sale and selling a knowingly fraudulent NJMVC inspection sticker, which simulates a document issued by a governmental agency
• False government documents, specifically by knowingly offering for sale and selling a document that falsely purports to be a document issued by a governmental agency, and which could be used as a means of verifying a person’s identity

It's not clear at this time how Luster created the stickers, or how much he was selling them for. Inspections at an NJMVC Inspection Center are free, and private inspections typically cost between $50 and $100.

Luster faces several decades in prison if convicted.