ST. LOUIS – A decade-long DMV fraud case came to a head on Tuesday with a prison sentence for the convicted ringleader.

Judge Mathew Schelp looked at defendant Gary Wilds before announcing his prison time and called out Wild’s “…lack of respect for the law.”

Wilds was allowed to walk out of court to prepare for his prison time, before turning himself in. He declined to talk on camera but said in court, “I know what I did was wrong.”

Federal prosecutors alleged hundreds of drivers who went to Wilds for help dealing with the DMV.

“They thought they were saving time,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry said, “…saving time by hiring somebody that had a company, that was registered by the State of Missouri – to go and stand in line for them.”

Berry alleged Missouri was shorted $335,218.32, and that drivers in four counties were then hit with a surprise.

“Their registrations have been revoked so they can’t legally drive their cars in the State of Missouri and if they wanted to sell their cars, they don’t have the registrations to sell their cars,” Berry said.

The defense argued Wilds wasn’t the real ringleader, alleging involvement of other higher up government conspirators. However, the prosecution responded that they saw no evidence of that.

Berry also praised Department of Revenue special agents saying, “They ended up getting some tips. They put some things together and then they asked for the audit. The audit then reviewed the scope of this fraudulent scheme.”

Lower-level DMV employees were also caught taking $100 Venmo payments to help Wilds. They’ve both also pleaded guilty, and one is still awaiting her prison sentence.

The guidelines for Wilds’ offenses called for a minimum of nine years in prison. The judge sentenced Wilds to five years and ordered him to repay the more than $300,000 he admitted stealing from the state.