Citation please. In most states an obscured plate is simply a citation, nothing more. Flipping may fall under something different, but obscured is not a felony, otherwise driving on muddy roads would make us all felons. Forged/stolen is probably the only felony for plates.
Yeah. It was something I was looking into doing a few years ago and I researched it. Any kind of remote control of plate flipping, covering, etc. is a felony, at least in Washington state, where I was checking it out.
I just googled it and it is not all that cut and dried, but seems to depend on where you live.