NEWS / Connecticut man sentenced in car theft ring case had criminal record

A Connecticut man who was sentenced on March 11 in a federal case involving a multi-state car and identity theft ring had a criminal record that included a shooting and rape.

The man, Ryan Testa, 48, of the city of Bristol (a suburb of Hartford), was sentenced by the US District Court in New Haven to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud as well as aggravated identity theft as part of an illicit scheme that authorities say netted a total of about $1 million.

According to the Connecticut Insider, US Attorney Marc H. Silverman stressed the fact that Testa had an extensive criminal record and that his previous legal punishments did not appear to have a deterrent effect.

Testa’s criminal record goes back to the 1990s. In 1995, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for burglary and larceny but was released after only 5 days due to a court clerk error. Having left prison, he went on to rob a Pizza Hut in Plainville, traveled to Farmington, and burst into a real estate office, where two individuals had been working late. Testa then shot one of the individuals and sexually assaulted a woman. He was eventually arrested and sentenced to 22 years in prison for the assault and rape in 1999, The Hartford Courant reported.

The most recent case dates back to September 2020. According to federal prosecution, Testa conspired with Tyshon Walker, 38, who stole the personal information of residents of Connecticut and other states to make fake driver’s licenses that would then be used to apply for vehicle loans at a variety of dealerships throughout Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Rhode Island. The vehicles would then be picked up and resold on Facebook Marketplace.

Testa was recruited by Walker as a “runner”, an individual who would impersonate an identity theft victim to pick up the vehicles from dealerships and take them back to Walker. Testa picked up at least 9 vehicles worth a total of about $500,000, according to federal prosecution. He was eventually arrested in Pennsylvania on May 16, 2023.

Also involved in the scheme was Walker’s wife Stephanie Perez, who was sentenced to 14 months in prison.