Kevin Demetri Britton, age 19, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s(ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department; Colonel Marcus L. Brown, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; andChief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department.
According to his plea agreement, between 2010 and April 2011, Britton was an active participant in a conspiracy to ship stolen cars from the United States to countries in West Africa for resale. Members of the conspiracy in the United States hired others to steal late model vehicles – with the keys – so that the vehicles could be more easily sold. The vehicles were stolen as follows:
The conspirators broke into car dealerships, stole the keys to new cars, and drove the cars off the lot;
The conspirators paid employees of dealerships to leave keys to vehicles in the vehicles or in an otherwise accessible area, and the cars were driven off the lots when the dealership was closed;
Vehicles were stolen from victims who walked away from their vehicle, leaving their keys inside the vehicle;
The conspirators paid others to rent vehicles from rental agencies, file false reports with the police claiming the vehicle had been stolen, and to turn the vehicle over to the members of the conspiracy;and
Individuals were robbed of their vehicles at gunpoint by assailants who were stealing the vehicles for members of the conspiracy.
Members of the conspiracy purchased the stolen vehicles from the thieves or an intermediary, and then stored the vehicles at a parking lot or other location, known as “coolingspots.” Often, members of the conspiracy hired others to find and remove G.P.S. devices from the vehicle to avoid detection by law enforcement. After three or four vehicles were accumulated, the vehicles would be towed or driven to a location to be loadedinto a shipping container. Thereafter, a tractor trailer would transport the container to a port for export. Additionally, members of the conspiracy hired international shipping companies to arrange for the containers to be shipped overseas. In order toship vehicles overseas, shipping companies are required to have valid titles for the vehicles. As part of the scheme, members of conspiracy used fraudulent title information in an effort to conceal that the cars they sought to ship had been stolen.
The containers were transported to various ports, including the Port Newark (New Jersey), the Port of Baltimore (Maryland), and the Port of Norfolk (Virginia). The containerswere then shipped, or intended to be shipped, to destinations in West Africa, including Nigeria and Ghana.
Britton’s role in the scheme varied. He acted as an intermediary between the car thieves/carjackers. In the fall of 2010, Britton met Solomon Asare and learned that Asare wouldgive him cash for late model stolen cars. Britton also learned that Asare shipped the stolen cars to Africa for resale. From the fall of 2010 through April 2011, Britton obtained at least 9 stolen cars and sold them to Asare, or someone acting on Asare’sbehalf.
For example, on March 17, 2011, members of the conspiracy carjacked a silver 2009 Toyota Camry from a victim in Landover, Maryland. Late
