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Brooklyn Woman Sentenced to 21 Years for Luxury Car Theft Ring
CAMDEN, N.J. – Hope K. Kantete, a 44-year-old Brooklyn woman, has been sentenced to 262 months in prison for her role as the leader of a ring responsible for shipping dozens of stolen and carjacked luxury cars and SUVs worth more than $2.5 million from New Jersey to Africa.
Kantete was convicted on June 28, 2013, of 10 counts of transportation of stolen vehicles in interstate or foreign commerce and a single count of conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles in interstate or foreign commerce.
The stolen car exportation ring was investigated by a multi-agency task force led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The investigation revealed that Kantete employed other individuals who were responsible for purchasing stolen and carjacked vehicles from thieves operating in northern New Jersey and New York.
Kantete then had individuals ‘re-tag,’ or place new vehicle identification numbers, on the stolen cars and create fraudulent title documents so that the cars could be shipped out of the country. After the documents were created, Kantete arranged to have the cars loaded onto shipping containers and sent to ports in West Africa.
The cars could be re-sold in West Africa for at least twice their retail value in the United States. In addition to the prison term, Judge Robert J. Kugler sentenced Kantete to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay restitution of $346,937, based on a loss estimated at $2.5 million to $7 million.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited special agents of HSI, the N.J. State Police, and other law enforcement agencies for their roles in the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys José R. Almonte and James M. Donnelly of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark. Defense counsel for Kantete is Brian J. Neary Esq. of Hackensack, N.J.
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Organized Crime|White Collar Crime|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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