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The nine defendants were sentenced to prison in connection with a car theft ring that operated over six months in 2020 and targeted vehicles in New York City and Westchester, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Monday, March 11.
According to James's office, the nine sentencings were the result of a two-year investigation into the scheme that began in September 2019 and eventually determined the defendants had been responsible for finding, stealing, altering, and reselling 45 vehicles.
These thefts occurred between April and October 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, when many New Yorkers were staying at home and leaving their cars parked for days at a time. The crew would find cars to steal, primarily Hondas, find key code information for them from unlawful websites, and make keys that allowed them to enter and take the vehicles.
Once they could get inside, the crew would then reprogram vehicle computer systems to gain control, disable alarms, and start the engine. Within minutes, the crew could steal the cars without drawing any attention, and also reprogram the vehicle so the owners' true electronic keys would no longer work.
After the thefts, the crew would then take the cars to several lots located in the Bronx and alter the vehicle identification numbers to give the vehicles a new identity. Additionally, the crew would forge federal certification stickers on the vehicles and remove legitimate stickers, in addition to replacing windshields.
The crew would then proceed to sell the cars to customers, including a business in Pennsylvania that would obtain clean registration and titles for stolen vehicles by filing fake documents with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The nine defendants sentenced in connection with the scheme, whose places of residence were not released, were:
- Norberto Pena Brito, age 38, who was sentenced to one to three years in state prison;
- Jose Lebron Pimental, age 42, who was sentenced to one year in state prison;
- Dariberto Fernandez Perez, age 33, who was sentenced to one to three years in state prison;
- Hector Rivera, age 54, who was sentenced to five years of probation;
- Willy Abreu Martinez, age 41, who was sentenced to five years of probation;
- Jesus Cabral, age 58, who was sentenced to five years of probation;
- Carlos Valverde, age 36, who has already served over two years in jail;
- Abdul Khan, age 37, who was sentenced to six months in jail;
- Leticia Saldivar, age 39, who was sentenced to six months in jail.
The Yonkers Police Department helped contribute to the investigation that took down the scheme, according to James's office.
"These individuals took advantage of New Yorkers who stayed at home in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to steal some of their most valuable assets," James said.
She added, "Using sophisticated methods, they stole and sold cars throughout New York City and Westchester County. Now we are bringing them to justice, and I thank my partners in local law enforcement for their coordination and support in taking down this dangerous car theft ring and continuing to protect the safety of all New Yorkers.”
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