SACRAMENTO — The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) announced that Candelario Acevedo, a former used car dealer in Corona, Calif., was sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison and ordered to pay $541,669 in connection with a scheme to evade paying sales taxes.

The illegal operation was uncovered by investigators from the BOE and the Department of Motor Vehicles, leading to a 30-count criminal complaint against Acevedo filed by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Acevedo was sentenced for the six felony counts he pled guilty to on Dec. 12, 2011, including one count each of felony sales tax evasion, grand theft, altering or forging vehicle registration, using personal identification of another to obtain credit, filing a false or forged instrument, and misappropriation of public monies.

Acevedo carried out his scam using his used-car businesses, which operated under the names of Just Cars and C&A Auto Sales. Both were located in Corona. He evaded paying sales taxes by submitting forged documents to the DMV for the transfer of vehicle titles that made it look like his own sales were made by other dealers.

Acevedo had no prior convictions in Riverside County.