March 4, 10

NEWS / Two Men Plead Guilty as Part of an Ongoing Investigation Into an Auto Theft Ring

TRENTON - Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Division of Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that two men have pleaded guilty for their roles in a multi-county automobile and motorcycle theft ring.

According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Tito Moses, 36, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Abdullah Drake, 34, of Irvington, pleaded guilty yesterday (March 3) before Superior Court Judge Michael A. Petrolle in Essex County to separate accusations charging each of them with second-degree fencing.

Judge Petrolle scheduled sentencing for June 2. The state will recommend that each defendant be sentenced to up to six years in state prison.

In pleading guilty, Moses and Drake admitted that on Nov. 10, 2009, they were trafficking in a stolen 2008 BMW 750, valued at approximately $85,000, and a 2009 Nissan 370Z valued at approximately $35,000, knowing that they had been stolen.

The guilty pleas are part of an on-going investigation into a multi-county automobile and motorcycle theft ring. On November 10, 2009, detectives from Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor and officers from the Essex/Union Auto Theft Task Force arrested six individuals in Newark, believed to be involved in the automobile theft trafficking ring.

Detective Jarek Pyrzanowski and Deputy Attorney General John J. Higgins were assigned to the investigation. DAG Higgins represented the State at the guilty plea hearing. Acting Prosecutor Dagli thanked the Essex/Union Auto Theft Task Force for their assistance in the investigation.

http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases10/pr20100304a.html