Raulin Rodriguez, Jender Santos-Ulloa, Josue Dejesus Gonzalez, Juan Tavarez Cabrera and Jonathan Mercedes Silvestre now face a combined 92 criminal charges after New York Attorney General Letitia James and the NYPD announced the takedown of a stolen vehicle ring that operated across two states for roughly a year, according to the Attorney General’s own press release. Investigators say the group ran the operation from February 2025 until the March 11, 2026 announcement, funneling stolen vehicles between New York and New Jersey for resale.
The charges include Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Second Degree, among other counts, with each defendant facing a maximum sentence of up to 15 years if convicted, the Attorney General’s office said.
Forty vehicles, six figures worth of Hondas and Lexuses
Investigators recovered more than 40 vehicles collectively worth over $1 million as part of the takedown. The breakdown, per the Attorney General’s release, included 19 Honda CR-Vs, 6 Lexus IS350s, 5 Toyota Highlanders, 4 Honda Accords, 3 Acura TLXs, 2 Lexus IS500s and 1 Honda Civic.
The heavy concentration of Honda CR-Vs and Lexus sedans reflects a pattern common to organized vehicle theft rings, which tend to target models that are common enough to blend into resale markets but valuable enough to justify the risk of moving stolen paperwork across state lines.
A yearlong investigation across six counties
The operation reached across New York’s Kings, Bronx, Queens and Westchester counties, as well as Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey, according to the press release. That geographic spread — a full metro-area footprint spanning two states — is what allowed the ring to keep operating for roughly a year before investigators from the Attorney General’s office and the NYPD were able to build a case covering all five defendants simultaneously.
“A stolen car can completely upend a family’s life, making it harder to get to school, work, and essential errands,” Attorney General James said in the announcement. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch struck a more direct tone toward the defendants and others operating similar schemes: “To criminals who traffic in stolen vehicles, our message is clear: the NYPD will find you and hold you accountable.”
What comes next
With 92 charges spread across five defendants, prosecutors have built a case with significant redundancy — multiple counts tied to individual vehicles and transactions, which typically makes plea negotiations more complex and gives prosecutors leverage even if some charges don’t stick. For the more than 40 owners whose vehicles were recovered, the case marks a rare full-circle outcome in a category of crime where recovery rates for exported or resold stolen vehicles often remain low.