A trio of Charlotte, North Carolina, men has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly running an extensive car theft ring, targeting luxury vehicles and executing their operation with what the feds are calling sophistication and organization. The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed the indictment, which laid out the conspiracy involving the theft of over $5 million worth of high-end cars from multiple states, as reported yesterday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.
Charged in the indictment are Aquanzae Jamal Switzer, 24, Da’Quante Antwone Banks, 24, and Trajan Dakiel Mack, 26, who face a slew of allegations including conspiracy to transport, possess, and sell stolen vehicles, possession of a stolen vehicle, and transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines. The luxury appetites of the robbers spanned the likes of BMW, Land Rover, and Mercedes-Benz, but didn't stop there, they also whisked away high-end models from Chevrolet, Ford, and Jeep, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"This multi-state automobile theft ring was organized and sophisticated," said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. "Organized crime has no place in the Western District of North Carolina, and I am grateful to our law enforcement partners for disrupting this operation," he noted. The U.S. Department of Justice's announcement detailed that the alleged conspiracy took place between 2022 and April 2024, involving the theft of numerous vehicles, which were later sold below market value or kept for personal use by the defendants and their associates.
The complex scheme included several tactics to avoid detection, such as using key fob programmers to steal vehicles mostly at night, switching out GPS systems to fall off the radar, and adding temporary and bogus tags to disguise the stolen goods. The indictment also claims that the defendants altered the appearance of the cars soon after the thefts, making it harder for authorities to track them down. One pointed example provided revealed the theft of 12 vehicles from a single car dealership in Lillington, North Carolina, as detailed by the indictment.
Federal penalties for the charges could land the indicted with up to five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, and up to ten years for each count of possessing and transporting stolen vehicles, if convicted. The sentences, which will be determined by a federal district court judge, will take U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors into account. While the charges against Switzer, Banks, and Mack are currently only allegations, they will remain presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. The crackdown on vehicle theft by federal authorities in Charlotte has been escalating, marked by this being the sixth indictment since 2023 related to similar crimes. The joint investigation by the Secret Service and Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, with assistance from the FBI and other agencies, was commended by U.S. Attorney Ferguson.
