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TRENTON - Attorney General
Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director
Stephen J. Taylor announced that an Essex
County man was sentenced to state prison
today for his role in a multi-county automobile
theft ring.
According to Acting Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Abdullah Drake,
34, of Irvington, was sentenced to five
years in state prison by Superior Court
Judge Michael A. Petrolle in Essex County.
The sentence was based on Drake’s
March 3 guilty plea to an accusation that
charged him with second-degree fencing.
In pleading guilty, Drake
admitted that on Nov. 10, 2009, he trafficked
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 sentencing is part of
an ongoing investigation into a multi-county
automobile and motorcycle theft ring. On
Nov. 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 alleged
to be involved in the automobile theft trafficking
ring.
Among the six individuals
were Tito Moses, 36, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania,
and Demond Conley, 36, of Irvington. Moses
was sentenced on Sept. 22 to five years
in state prison following his guilty plea
on March 3 to second-degree fencing. Conley
was sentenced in August to six years in
state prison, including three years of parole
ineligibility. Conley’s sentence was
based on his guilty plea to second-degree
charges of leading an auto theft trafficking
network and eluding police.
Detective Jarek Pyrzanowski
and former Deputy Attorney General John
J. Higgins were assigned to the investigation.
They were assisted by Detectives Wendy Berg
and Amy Carson. Deputy Attorney General
Nicole Rizzolo represented the state at
the sentencing. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
Dagli thanked the DCJ Gangs & Organized
Crime Bureau Central Squad, the Port Authority
of New York & New Jersey Police, and
Keystone Insurance/Midlantic AAA Insurance
Company for their assistance in the investigation.
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