4 sentenced in Charlotte ring that stole Porsche, other luxury cars nationwide, feds say
Four men from the Carolinas were sentenced to prison this week for their roles in a Charlotte-based, multi-million dollar ring that stole at least 100 Porsches, Bentleys and other luxury cars from dealerships nationwide, prosecutors said Friday.
The men included two from Charlotte, one from Lake Norman and another from Sumter, South Carolina, U.S. Attorney Dena King said.
Each pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to transport, possess and sell stolen vehicles in interstate commerce, according to a news release by King’s Charlotte-based office.
How thieves pulled off the scheme
The ring also stole BMW, Cadillac, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and other expensive models, prosecutors said.
After pretending to test drive or inspect the cars, thieves in some instances swapped the key fobs with similar ones and later used the stolen fobs to drive off with the vehicles, according to court documents.
Sometimes they pulled off what investigators called “smash and grab” thefts — breaking into dealerships and finding keys to the cars, court records show. They also broke open lock boxes that held some of the keys.
Prosecutors said Garyka Vaughn Bost, 26, of Denver, N.C., and Charlotte residents Kevin Ja’Coryen James Fields, 28, and Reginald Eugene Hill, 25, drove the cars off the lots.
Dewanne Lamar White, the 44-year-old defendant from Sumter, frequently paid the three and other drivers for their work in the scheme, prosecutors said.
Several times, the men and other unnamed co-conspirators stole multiple cars at once, “resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses,” King said.
Avoiding law enforcement detection
According to court documents, the men removed the GPS navigation and tracking systems from the cars after driving them from the lots. That way, police couldn’t track the vehicles down, prosecutors said.
The men put fake dealer tags and stolen license plates on the cars and removed their original vehicle identification numbers. They took the cars to Charlotte and sold them for “at price well below market value,” according to the news release.
The scheme lasted from 2021 to 2023, court records show.
According to court documents, dealerships were victimized in the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Arizona.
Sentences up to nine years
White received the stiffest sentence at nine years. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen vehicle, records show.
Fields was sentenced to eight years and pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.
Hill was sentenced to five years and Bost to a year in prison.
King thanked Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police for investigating the thefts, and the York County, S.C., Sheriff’s Office and many other law enforcement agencies for their help.
This story was originally published January 17, 2025 at 12:04 PM with the headline "4 sentenced in Charlotte ring that stole Porsche, other luxury cars nationwide, feds say."