Four Pennsylvanians under 10 charged in high-end ‘muscle’ car theft plot

WILLIAMSPORT – Four Pennsylvanians are among 10 people charged in a multi-state conspiracy to steal luxury “muscle” vehicles and then sell all or part of them.

The 10 are named in an indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. Mid-Court. Dealers in Mechanicsburg and Selinsgrove are among the victims of the one-year plan that started in October 2023.

According to the indictment, the conspiracy included stealing the vehicles, taking them to homes, displaying them in person at gatherings or on social media, keeping them for personal use, concealing them or selling them.

According to the indictment, the conspirators induced themselves or others to:

• Purchase key programs and blank key fobs that would be used to steal vehicles in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
• Organize and promote car rallies and street takeovers using social media platforms like Instagram.
• Conceal the stolen vehicles by changing, defacing and removing vehicle identification numbers and using stolen or temporary paper license plates.
• Sell ​​the stolen vehicles on Facebook Marketplace, Instagram and elsewhere.

The names of the dealers whose vehicles were stolen are not listed in the indictment, but the following were taken in central Pennsylvania and the dates are in 2023:

• Oct. 3 at a Selinsgrove dealership two 2017 Cadillac CTS-Vs, two 2019 Cadillac CTS-Vs, a 2016 Cadillac CTS-V and a 2018 Chevrolet Camera.
• Oct. 26 at a Mechanicsburg dealership a 2020 Infinity Q50 and on the same date in Mechanicsburg a 2019 Cadillac Escalade. The indictment does not state whether the thefts occurred at the same or different locations.

Other dealerships from which vehicles were stolen were in Turnersville, Maple Shade, Florham Park and Beachwood, all in New Jersey, and Eldersburg and Catonsville, Maryland.

All ten are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime against the United States. All are also charged with interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle, but not all on each of the seven charges.

Names in the indictment include Nigel Criss, 25, Ian Quintana Torres, 23, and Shamar Morris, 22, all of Philadelphia, and Jumaane Wright, 28, of Montgomery County.

Also included are Rafel Otero Nieves, 40, Jose Otero Nieves, 41, and Jesus Terrero, 32, of Baltimore County, Tyler Hoagland, 27, of Howard County, Robert Jones, 25, of Prince George’s County, all in Maryland, and Raymond Steward, 24, from Camden County, New Jersey.

The government is seeking the forfeiture of five seized vehicles, along with key programmers and fobs, if convicted.