Feds reach plea deal with 2 Minnesota men connected to national catalytic converter theft ring

Two Minnesota men have pleaded guilty to federal charges tied to a national catalytic converter theft ring.

James Dillon Jensen and Soe Nye Moo reached a plea agreement with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to records filed in federal court this week. The two were indicted last October for their roles as “intermediary buyers” in an organized effort to cut, transport and sell stolen catalytic converters.

Two other men charged simultaneously, John Charles Kotten and Justin Tyme Johnson, have pleaded not guilty.

In the plea agreement, Jensen admitted to transporting stolen catalytic converters from Minnesota to a buyer in Prescott, Wisconsin, over a six-month period in 2022. Court records show Jensen stole and sold car parts to “support an active drug addiction.”

Federal prosecutors say Moo used catalytic converter thieves to transport stolen car parts to St. Louis. He said he was a “contact point” for “street-level cutters” who allowed them to bring them to his home in St. Paul, and that people like Jensen, Johnson and Kotten could buy them and bring them. to junkyards.

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Moo pleaded guilty in August 2022 to possession of a machine gun during the replacement of stolen catalytic converters.

Prosecutors had previously said Moo sold at least 380 stolen catalytic converters to Kotten in March 2021. Kotten bought them for about $250,000, according to the federal indictment.

About a year later, prosecutors said the two reconnected for a sale worth at least $25,000.

Both Jensen and Moo could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The conspiracy netted at least $21 million between May 2020 and October 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minneapolis.

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Reports of catalytic converter theft rose to more than 13,000 in 2022 but dropped to 5,800 last year, according to data from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). While the prices of precious metals in catalytic converters have fallen, law enforcement officials also credit the national dismantling of theft rings for this decline.

BCA came into operation in August A new central database to track specific purchases at the state’s scrapyards. As 5 INVESTIGATES previously reported, the state tried to launch a similar database a decade ago. Before parliament defeats the plan.

The two-year, $190,000 contract highlights BCA’s ability to “maintain a list of questionable dealers.”