TRENTON, NJ — On Dec. 13, Attorney Gen. Gurbir Grewal announced final results of “Operation Jacked” and “Operation 17 Corridor,” major investigations and prosecutions that targeted international carjacking and stolen car-trafficking rings. The operations led to arrests and charges against more than 50 ring members in 2014 and 2015, and recovery of approximately 250 stolen vehicles worth more than $12 million.
The final defendant, Panel Dalce, was sentenced Friday, Dec. 20. The Division of Criminal Justice secured prison sentences for 42 defendants, including lengthy sentences for the lead defendants. The Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau and New Jersey State Police Special Investigations Section led Operation Jacked and Operation 17 Corridor, assisted by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and many other law enforcement agencies. Operation Jacked and Operation 17 Corridor, conducted in 2014 and 2015, targeted two major carjacking and stolen car-trafficking rings that stole high-end cars in New Jersey and New York and shipped them to West Africa, where the vehicles commanded prices above new market value in the United States.
The takedown of these rings — which offered carjackers a lucrative market for stolen luxury cars — had a major impact on carjacking in New Jersey, in conjunction with other collaborative law enforcement efforts, according to Grewal. Carjackings in New Jersey reached a peak of 407 in 2012 and remained high at 389 in 2013. They declined by more than 50 percent in the years of the takedowns — to 199 in 2014 and 186 in 2015 — and remained down in the years that followed: 184 in 2016, 222 in 2017 and 132 in 2018.
“We made our communities safer with Operation Jacked and Operation 17 Corridor by arresting carjackers and completely dismantling criminal organizations that were providing a lucrative market for luxury stolen vehicles,” Grewal said. “We have sent the leaders and key players in these rings to prison, where they can no longer threaten residents with this dangerous type of street-level crime.”
“Car theft in New Jersey results in millions of dollars of lost revenue every year and directly impacts the economy and safety of everyday citizens,” said Special Agent in Charge Brian Michael of Homeland Security Investigations–Newark. “The cooperative efforts of law enforcement in this case, with its focused and strategic approach, has had a direct, positive impact.”
Operation Jacked, conducted in 2014, resulted in prison sentences for 21 defendants and the recovery of approximately 160 stolen cars worth more than $8 million. The ring that was dismantled targeted specific luxury vehicles, particularly SUVs made by Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Honda, Porsche, Jaguar, and Aston Martin. Twenty-seven of the recovered vehicles were taken in carjackings, a majority of which involved a gun or other weapon. Others were stolen in “soft steals” from locations where the thieves were able to steal them with one or more of their electronic keys or key fobs, which are critical to the resale value of the cars. Thefts occurred at carwashes and airports, where drivers would leave cars running. In other cases, ring members obtained cars through fraud, using bad checks to buy cars from dealerships.
Shippers would load the cars into shipping containers, which were taken to ports for transport by ship to West Africa. Of the 160 vehicles recovered, 140 were recovered at ports, including Port Newark, Port Elizabeth and Howland Hook Seaport in Staten Island. The ring operated in multiple counties in New Jersey, including Essex, Union, Morris, Monmouth, Middlesex, Bergen and Somerset.
As a result of Operation Jacked, Kyle Champagnie, 32, of Irvington, a leader of the ring, pleaded guilty to first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity and was sentenced to 14 years in prison with five years of parole ineligibility; Leon Nii-Moi, 41, of Roselle, a leader of the ring, pleaded guilty to first-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison; Omar Smith, 45, of Newark, a leader of the ring, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and was sentenced to eight years in prison with nearly seven years of parole ineligibility; Yves Augustin, 30, of Rahway, a carjacker, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, armed robbery and two counts of carjacking, all first-degree charges, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 12 years and nine months of parole ineligibility; Kurtis Bossie, 27, of Newark, a carjacker, pleaded guilty to first-degree charges of conspiracy and carjacking and was sentenced to 18 years in prison with eight and a half years of parole ineligibility; Jim J. Bryant Jr., 28, of Newark, a carjacker, pleaded guilty to first-degree charges of conspiracy and carjacking and was sentenced to 10 years in prison with more than five years of parole ineligibility; Saladine Grant, 45, of East Orange, a high-level fence and thief, pleaded guilty to first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity and was sentenced to 12 years in prison with four years of parole ineligibility; Deandre Stevenson, 47, of Newark, a high-level fence and thief, pleaded guilty to first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity and second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and was sentenced to 12 years in prison with four years of parole ineligibility; James Hemphill, 47, of Belleville, a high-level fence and thief, pleaded guilty to first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity and was sentenced to seven years in prison with three years of parole ineligibility; Standford Oduro, 66, of Bloomfield, a shipper, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to seven years in prison; Craig Boone, 44, of Newark, a thief who purchased vehicles with bad checks, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to seven years in prison with three years of parole ineligibility; Robert Alexander, 43, of Newark, a thief who purchased vehicles with bad checks, pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by deception and was sentenced to five years in prison; Abdur Abdullah, 38, of Tuckerton, a fence and thief, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison with three years of parole ineligibility; Demarco Sparks, 46, of Newark, a fence and thief, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison with two and a half years of parole ineligibility; Malik Baker, 26, of Vauxhall, a thief, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison with two years of parole ineligibility; Ibn Traynham, 43, of Newark, a vehicle re-tagger and thief, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison with two years of parole ineligibility; Daniel Hunt, 42, of East Orange, a thief, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison with 18 months of parole ineligibility; Steve McGraw, 40, of Newark, a thief, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison with 18 months of parole ineligibility; Kevin Collins, 45, of Neptune, a wheel man who moved stolen cars for the ring, pleaded guilty to second-degree receiving stolen property and was sentenced to five years in prison; Johnnie Davila, 32, of Cherry Hill, a thief, pleaded guilty to second-degree receiving stolen property and was sentenced to five years in prison; and Fate Lucas, 30, of Maplewood, a thief, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Seven additional lower-level defendants pleaded guilty to third-degree charges and were sentenced to terms of probation, in one case including a county jail term of 288 days.
The following agencies assisted in Operation Jacked, under the leadership of the New Jersey State Police and Division of Criminal Justice: Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police Department; ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Newark; Union County Prosecutor’s Office; Essex County Prosecutor’s Office; Massachusetts State Police; Delaware State Police; Connecticut State Police; Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office; Manalapan Police Department; Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office; U.S. Customs & Border Protection; Bayonne Police Department; Hudson County Sheriff’s Office; and U.S. Marshals Service.
Operation 17 Corridor, conducted in 2015, resulted in prison sentences for 21 defendants and the recovery of approximately 90 cars worth more than $4 million. The ring that was dismantled operated based on demand for specific luxury vehicles, including various models of Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Maserati, Porsche, Jaguar and Bentley. Some cars were taken through carjackings, while others were stolen from locations where the thieves were able to steal them with one or more of their electronic keys or key fobs.
Of the 90 vehicles recovered in Operation 17 Corridor, 23 were recovered at ports used by the ring, including Port Newark, Port Elizabeth, Global Terminal in Bayonne and the Howland Hook Seaport in Staten Island. The ring operated in Rockland County, N.Y., and various counties in New Jersey, including Morris, Bergen, Essex, Union, Hudson, Monmouth, Middlesex, Hunterdon and Somerset.
In Operation 17 Corridor, Ibn Jones, 41, of Newark, a leader of the ring, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and was sentenced to 12 years in prison with more than 10 years of parole ineligibility; Tyja Evans, 43, of Watchung, a leader of the ring, pleaded guilty to first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity and was sentenced to 12 years in prison with six years of parole ineligibility; Eddie Craig, 40, of Beverly, a leader of the ring, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and was sentenced to nine years in prison with more than seven and a half years of parole ineligibility; Rashawn Gartrell, 40, of Irvington, a carjacker/car thief/wheel man, pleaded guilty to first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity and was sentenced to 12 years in prison with five years of parole ineligibility; Kenneth Daniels, 34, of Newark, a car thief and wheel man, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison with nearly nine years of parole ineligibility — Daniels was shot and wounded by a state trooper on March 18, 2015, when he drove a stolen Porsche at troopers and rammed a state police vehicle; Derrick Moore, 40, of Newark, a carjacker/car thief/wheel man, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and was sentenced to 10 years in prison including eight and a half years of parole ineligibility; Nasir Turner, 40, of Newark, a carjacker/car thief/wheel man, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and was sentenced to 10 years in prison including eight and a half years of parole ineligibility; Donnell Carroll, 32, of East Orange, a car thief and wheel man, pleaded guilty to first-degree racketeering and was sentenced to 10 years in prison including eight and a half years of parole ineligibility; Levell Burnett, 43, of East Orange, a fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to eight years in prison with four years of parole ineligibility; Frazier Gibson, 33, of Montclair, a fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to seven years in prison with three and a half years of parole ineligibility; Julian Atta-Poku, 37, of Queens Village, N.Y., a fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to seven years in prison; Peter Cleland, 36, of Belleville, a shipper and high-level fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree receiving stolen property and was sentenced to seven years in prison; Damion Mikell, 37, of East Orange, a fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to six years in prison with two years of parole ineligibility; Eric Aikens, 44, of Newark, a fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to six years in prison with two years of parole ineligibility; Alterique Jones, 44, of Maplewood, a car thief and wheel man, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to six years in prison with two years of parole ineligibility; Manuel Olivares, 48, of Jersey City, a shipper and high-level fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to six years in prison; Panel Dalce, 47, of South Orange, a shipper and high-level fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison, but the sentence was suspended; Marquis Price, 36, of Newark, a car thief and wheel man, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to six years in prison; Terrence Wilson, 43, of Newark, a car thief and wheel man, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison with 30 months of parole ineligibility; Adam Fofana, 57, of Teaneck, a shipper and high-level fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison; and Alpha Jalloh, 30, of Brooklyn, N.Y., a shipper and high-level fence, pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Four additional lower-level defendants pleaded guilty to third-degree charges and were sentenced to terms of probation, in one case including a county jail term of 270 days. Another defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree receiving stolen property and was admitted to Drug Court.
The following agencies assisted in Operation 17 Corridor, under the leadership of the New Jersey State Police and the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice: Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police Department; ICE Homeland Security Investigations-Newark, Border Enforcement Security Task Force; Morris County Prosecutor’s Office; Essex County Prosecutor’s Office; Demarest Police Department; Paramus Police Department; South Orange Police Department; Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office; Hanover Police Department; Linden Police Department; U.S. Customs & Border Protection; Essex County Sheriff’s Office; Hudson County Sheriff’s Office; Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor; and U.S. Marshals Service.
In both operations, valuable assistance was provided by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
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