Four men sentenced in Charlotte-based luxury car theft ring ...Middle East

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- Four men part of a Charlotte-based theft ring that stole over 100 vehicles worth millions of dollars from dealerships have been sentenced.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, the four suspects pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport, possess, and sell stolen vehicles.

According to documents, from 2021 to 2023 the group worked together to steal luxury vehicles from dealerships in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Arizona.

Authorities said to maximize their profits, they targeted luxury vehicles made by Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Land Rover, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz, and other expensive models.

The group committed the thefts in several ways. For example, the group would visit dealerships posing as customers. After pretending to test drive or inspect the vehicles, they would swap the vehicles’ key fobs with similar ones, and later use the stolen fobs to steal the vehicles.

Other times, authorities said the group employed methods like “smash and grab” thefts, where they would break into dealerships and locate keys to the high-end models, or break open lockboxes containing keys to luxury vehicles, and then drive the vehicles off the lot.

Court documents state once the stolen vehicles were taken off the dealership lots, the suspects would remove the GPS navigation and tracking systems, attach fictitious dealer tags or stolen license plates, and replace the vehicles’ authentic Vehicle Identification Numbers.

The stolen vehicles were then taken back to Charlotte where they were sold locally at prices well below market value, authorities said.

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