Lunsford Brothers, Jenkins Caged in Interstate Car Theft Ring

DAYTON, Ohio — A crew of car thieves who turned Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky into their personal showroom have been shut down, with three defendants sentenced in U.S. District Court for running an interstate vehicle theft ring. Merle Jay Lunsford, 57, of Dayton, was hit with 60 months behind bars. His son, Shane Lunsford, 34, also of Dayton, received 24 months. Joshua Jenkins, 22, of Milan, Indiana, walked out with time served — but all three are on the hook for nearly $55,000 in restitution, jointly.

The operation ran from at least June to December 2015, during which the trio stole vehicles from Ohio and Kentucky and flipped them across state lines for profit. Court records detail a mobile crime kit: stolen cars, extra license plates pulled from hijacked vehicles, lock-picking tools, and a loaded firearm. They were also caught with heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl — substances investigators believe were either for personal use or secondary trafficking.

All three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen motor vehicles across state lines, a federal offense that carries steep penalties. Merle Jay Lunsford, a five-time felon with convictions dating back to 1983 — including aggravated robbery and aggravated drug trafficking — took additional hits: one count of receiving, possessing, and selling a stolen vehicle that crossed state lines, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. That last charge alone carried a mandatory sentence, sealing his five-year fate.

U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose handed down the sentences, emphasizing the organized nature of the theft ring and the danger posed by armed felons moving illicit goods across state borders. The FBI’s Cincinnati Division, working hand-in-hand with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, dismantled the operation through surveillance, seized vehicles, and forensic tracking of stolen plates and VINs.

Benjamin C. Glassman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Cincinnati Division, and Sheriff Phil Plummer all confirmed the outcome. Glassman praised the joint task force effort, calling it a “clear strike against mobile criminal enterprises exploiting regional borders.” He noted that stolen vehicles not only cost insurers and owners millions but often end up in further criminal activity.

Assistant United States Attorney Dwight Keller prosecuted the case. With the sentences now final, federal authorities say they’re turning focus to the broader network that buys and resells stolen vehicles across the Midwest. For now, the Lunsfords and Jenkins are locked in — one for five years, one for two, and one walking free but financially bound by the wreckage they left behind.