Tijuana man sentenced to prison for ‘double-brokering’ scheme targeting San Diego truckers

A resident of Mexico was recently sentenced to more than two years in prison for orchestrating a complex ‘double-broker’ scheme intended to defraud motor carriers and freight brokers operating in California.

On February 23, 2023, Tijuana resident Alexis Castillo Padilla was sentenced to 30 months of incarceration, 36 months of supervised release, $239,904 in restitution, and a $400 special assessment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Padilla pleaded guilty in October 2022 to four counts of wire fraud.

Authorities say that Padilla stole the identity of an interstate carrier located in Spring Valley in San Diego County, California, and agreed to deliver loads using that carrier’s identity. However instead of delivering those loads, Padilla posed as a shipper and re-brokered the loads to other trucking companies, who actually delivered the freight. Padilla collected the payments from customers as the Spring Valley carrier and did not pay the trucking companies that actually delivered the cargo.

Most of the double-broker scheme was orchestrated from Tijuana, Mexico, authorities say.

Padilla was arrested in Italy and extradited to the United States on May 27, 2022.

“Padilla used deceit and deception to defraud freight brokers and interstate carriers trying to make an honest living moving goods throughout the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “He will now be held to account for his crimes even though they were committed from outside the United States.”