CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The fifth member and leader of an organized auto theft ring that stole more than 100 high-end vehicles worth millions of dollars from dealerships located across the United States was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison yesterday, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Hosea Fernandez Hampton, 27, of Charlotte, was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison term. Hampton previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport, possess, and sell stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.“This was a sophisticated car-stealing operation by professional criminals across multiple states,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “Hampton now has years behind bars to contemplate whether a life of crime is worth the loss of his freedom.”Hampton’s four co-defendants also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport, possess, and sell stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and were previously sentenced as follows:Dewanne Lamar White was sentenced to 108 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. White also pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Kevin Ja’Coryen James Fields was sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Fields also pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle. Reginald Eugene Hill was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. Garyka Vaughn Bost was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison followed by two years of supervised release. According to court documents and court proceedings, from 2021 to 2023, Hampton and his co-defendants engaged in a conspiracy to steal luxury vehicles worth millions of dollars from dealerships in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Arizona. To maximize profits from the thefts, Hampton and his co-defendants targeted luxury vehicles made by Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Land Rover, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz, as well as other expensive models from Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, and other manufacturers. Court documents show that Hampton was one of the leaders of the auto theft scheme, frequently organizing the thefts, identifying target dealerships, recruiting drivers to transport the stolen vehicles and later paying the drivers for their services. According to court records, during Hampton’s time in the conspiracy, conspirators stole at least 82 vehicles worth nearly $5.9 million. Generally, Hampton and the co-defendants visited dealerships posing as customers interested in purchasing vehicles. After pretending to test drive or inspect the vehicles, the defendants would swap the vehicles’ key fobs with similar ones and later use the stolen key fobs to steal the vehicles. Other times, they employed methods like “smash-and-grab” thefts, where they would break into dealerships and locate keys to the high-end models, or break open lockboxes containing keys to luxury vehicles and then drive the vehicles off the lot. On several occasions, the defendants and other co-conspirators stole multiple vehicles simultaneously, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. U.S. v…
Source: U.S. Department of Justice