A Louisiana man was sentenced this month to 115 months in federal prison for his involvement in an alleged multi-state vehicle theft.
U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson sentenced Christopher Don Byerley, age 45, of Broussard, Louisiana following his convictions for conspiracy to transport a stolen motor vehicle; altering, removing and obliterating a vehicle identification number. Byerley was also charged with possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices and possession of an unregistered silencer and being a prior convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The Court further sentenced Byerley to serve three years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered restitution in the amount of $127,000 to the victims.
According to admissions made as part of his guilty plea, between October 2021 and March 2022, Byerley and his co-conspirators, Robert Gregory Brazell, Adrienne Marie King, and Dennis Loyd Sizemore, carried out a coordinated and complex operation extending across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, in which the group stole, then used or sold the stolen and altered vehicles, including tractors, excavators, forklifts, and a pickup truck, with a total value of over $250,000.
The conspiracy involved tampering with Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) to disguise the identity of stolen property, use of a chop shop, fraudulent documentation, and false business fronts such as “Hevyquip L.L.C.” to sell stolen equipment and unauthorized possession of over 400 identities and access devices to further conceal their criminal activities.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lyman E. Thornton III and M. Patricia Jones.
Source: Middle District of Louisiana