Mover, limo operator penalized by regulators

A Las Vegas limousine company owner caught in a hidden-camera sting operation was fined by the Transportation Services Authority.

Rey Vinole, owner of Highroller Limousine, was fined a total of $10,000 for two citations involving illegal transport operations in January.

Under terms of a settlement agreement last week between the TSA and the company, $6,000 of the fines would be forgiven if the company becomes certified and Vinole isn't cited again for a year.

Vinole said he will apply for state certification.

Vinole was cited Jan. 7 and Jan. 20 by TSA enforcement agents for operating a limousine without state certification. The company has federal certification for interstate transports and Vinole says he has offered trips to Hoover Dam where he would cross into Arizona to comply with that license.

But TSA agents using a hidden camera videotaped Vinole telling customers to lie to enforcement officers about making an out-of-state trip if the vehicle was stopped. Undercover agents had asked Vinole to take them from a Strip hotel to a North Las Vegas nude bar.

It was the first time the TSA used a hidden camera to document an illegal operation.

In Vinole's Feb. 16 hearing before Commissioner Sandra Avants, the limousine owner apologized for his actions. Avants recommended $5,000 fines each for the Jan. 20 incident caught on tape and a Jan. 7 citation in which Vinole was caught transporting conventioneers at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show betweenhotels.

In both incidents, Avants recommended vacating $3,000 on each of the fines if Vinole stayed out of trouble.

"I thought she was fair about it and I'm happy with the outcome," Vinole said Thursday after the TSA decision. "I look forward to going through the application process."

In another action, the TSA approved a default order against Steven Maresca, doing business as Insta-Move, a Las Vegas moving company.

The agency said it has cited Maresca three times for operating without state certification. Commissioners said Maresca has not appeared at hearings on the citations.

In January, the TSA won a $12,000 summary judgment against Maresca for failing to pay state fines.

The order enables the agency to initiate collection proceedings against Maresca and Insta-Move, a TSA spokesman said.

Maresca said last year he was frustrated with the state's certification process, which allows established companies to intervene when a certificate of public convenience and necessity is sought by a new competitor or if a certificate is amended.

The TSA monitors limousines, buses, towing companies and moving companies that operate statewide and taxis that operate in all but Clark County.

archive