TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced
that two North Jersey men were sentenced
today for being part of a theft ring that
targeted luxury cars.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Chevon Robinson, 26, of Elizabeth,
and Kirtice Cummings, 35, of Newark, were
ordered by Superior Court Judge Douglas
M. Fasciale in Union County to serve four
years in state prison. Robinson and Cummings
were sentenced pursuant to their Feb. 28
guilty pleas to separate accusations that
charged each of them with second-degree
fencing.
In pleading guilty before Superior Court
Judge John S. Triarsi in Union County, Robinson
and Cummings admitted to knowingly trafficking
stolen property by making arrangements and
assisting in the sale of three stolen automobiles,
which had a combined value of more than
$200,000: a 2007 BMW Alpina, and two 2007
Infinity FXs.
As
part of the ongoing investigation into the
ring, approximately 25 reported stolen vehicles
have been recovered by the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor, including many high-end
vehicles. Vehicles totaling in excess of
$1,500,000 were recovered. The majority
of recovered vehicles were allegedly stolen
from New Jersey Port Authority new car holding
lots and other new car holding lots, as
well as from a long-term parking lot situated
next to Newark Liberty International Airport.
Investigators
with the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
arrested Robinson and Cummings, as well
as Saladine Grant, 33, of Newark, on July
31, 2007. Grant was charged with receipt
of stolen property, fencing, and conspiracy.
At the time, Judge Triarsi set Grant’s
bail at $1,000,000. Grant’s case is
still pending.
State Investigators Jarek Pyrzanowski and
Jeffrey Lorman, and Deputy Attorney General
John J. Higgins were assigned to the investigation.
Higgins represented the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing.
Fraud
Prosecutor Brown thanked the following individuals
and agencies for their assistance in the
investigation: Perth Amboy Police Department;
Detective Ronald Snyder of the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey Police; Detective
Aaron Auclair of the New Jersey State Police;
the Edison Township Police Department; and
the Piscataway Police Department.
“Frequently
insurance fraud investigations lead to evidence
of stolen automobiles,” said Prosecutor
Brown. “This office will continue
to follow evidence of auto insurance fraud
and theft wherever it leads.”
Prosecutor
Brown noted that some important cases have
started with anonymous tips. People who
are concerned about insurance cheating and
have information about a fraud can report
it anonymously by calling the toll-free
hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting the Web
site www.njinsurancefraud.org. State regulations
permit an award to be paid to an eligible
person who provides information that leads
to an arrest, prosecution and conviction
for insurance fraud.
The
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was
established by the Automobile Insurance
Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The office is
the centralized state agency that investigates
and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance
fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.
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