EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — A federal grand jury has charged ten people with an auto theft conspiracy where they would allegedly transport stolen vehicles across states.
According to U. S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, from October 2023 through September 2024, ten suspects from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, conspired to transport stolen vehicles across state lines and to receive, possess, conceal, store, sell, and dispose of stolen vehicles that had been transported.
The ten alleged suspects are as follows:
Nigel Criss, 25, of Philadelphia
Ian Quintana Torres, 23, of Philadelphia
Shamar Morris, 22, of Philadelphia
Jumaane Wright, 28, of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania;
Raymond Steward, 24, of Camden County, New Jersey
Rafael Otero Nieves, 40, of Baltimore County, Maryland
Jose Otero Nieves, 41, of Baltimore County, Maryland
Jesus Terrero, 32, of Baltimore County, Maryland
Tyler Hoagland, 27, of Howard County, Maryland
Robert Jones, 25, of Prince George’s County, Maryland
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The suspects are accused of traveling to car dealerships with key programmers to steal several vehicles at a time.
Investigators stated the conspiracy was to take the stolen vehicles, typically high-end, "muscle" type cars, across state lines to "car meetups" and "street takeovers," where people would take over a parking lot, intersection, or portion of a highway.
The vehicles were shown off in person at the meetups and on social media and driven dangerously by spinning tires and "burning out" the vehicles, officials reported.
The maximum penalty for the crimes is five years for the conspiracy charge and ten years for each count of interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle, in addition to a fine.
