Attempted Fraud on a Court to Avoid a Ticket Failed

By Barry Zalma on August 18, 2026

Not Proper To Present False Evidence to a District Judge

Post 5427

Lie to a Judge to Avoid a Fine Can Find You in Jail

In United States Of America v. Gary Rains, Criminal No. 1:26po25, United States District Court, W.D. Virginia, Abingdon Division (August 14, 2026) Gary Rains, (“Rains”), appeared before the court for an initial appearance on a petty offense violation on April 1, 2026.

At that time, Rains pleaded guilty to a violation of 36 C.F.R. § 4.2(b), incorporating Kentucky Revised Statute § 304.99-060, for having no vehicle insurance at the time of a traffic stop on December 21, 2025.

The USDC convicted Rains of the offense and imposed a fine of $500.00 and a mandatory special assessment of $10.00. Judgment was, thereafter, entered on April 8, 2026. Rains moved to Vacate Judgment. In accordance with the court’s June 12, 2026, Minute Order, , the United States responded to the Motion on June 17, 2026. Thereafter, the court ordered Rains to file any response by July 2, 2026. To date, Rains has filed no such response.

In his Motion, Rains states that he now has found his insurance card showing that he did, in fact, have insurance coverage on the date the violation notice was issued. In support of his Motion, Rains attached a State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, insurance card, indicating that he had insurance coverage on his 2004 Toyota Prerunner from August 29, 2025, to February 28, 2026. In its Response, the United States avers that on June 15, 2026, United States Park Ranger Chandler Shepherd contacted a State Farm representative regarding Rains’s insurance coverage. As part of that contact, the State Farm representative, Crystal Brooks, informed Ranger Shepherd that, although Rains had been insured through a different State Farm office, she was able to access his insurance information with State Farm.

Brooks provided Ranger Shepherd information showing that Rains had automobile insurance on a 2004 Toyota Prerunner with an inception date of August 29, 2025. However, Brooks provided further information that this insurance was subsequently terminated on November 27, 2025. Additionally, the United States avers that, prior to the April 1, 2026, hearing on the violation, Rains contacted the United States Attorney’s Office and provided information that his vehicle was insured with Direct Insurance Company, (“Direct”), for the period from December 26, 2025, to December 26, 2026.

Given Rains’s action of purchasing insurance on the same vehicle with a different insurance company, which would overlap the State Farm policy by approximately two months, the court was unable to find credible Rains’s claim that he had insurance with State Farm on the date of the violation. If the issue was a lost insurance card, as Rains appears to claim in his Motion, the remedy would be to obtain a replacement card, not to purchase a duplicate policy.

Based on Rains’s knowing and voluntary guilty plea, the information provided by State Farm representative Brooks that Rains’s coverage was terminated on November 27, 2025, and Rains’s production, prior to the hearing, of proof of insurance with a different insurance company beginning on December 26, 2025, there was insufficient evidence to vacate the judgment.

It was ORDERED that Rains’s Motion to Vacate Judgment, was DENIED.

ZALMA OPINION

This is not a major case. That it was reported at all was amazing. To avoid a $500.00 fine Mr. Raines created false insurance records to set aside the $500 fine to which he had pleaded guilty. What he did was attempt a fraud on the court. That attempt was a criminal act and should have been referred to the DOJ. States require people to have automobile insurance to operate on the roads. Raines failed to do so, was cited, convicted and fined. He then created false documents to reverse the judgment and with false documents. The judge recognized the fraud and denied his motion.

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