West County Man Arrested in Connection to Multi-State Car Theft Ring

Sixteen people have been arrested on a federal indictment connected to a multi-state car theft conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office Tuesday.

Prosecutors stated Sheldon Mitchell, 42, of Ballwin is among those arrested.

The following details of the case and arrests were included in a U.S. Attorney's Office press release Tuesday.

Sixteen people have been arrested on a federal indictment charging twenty-one defendants involved in a multi-state car theft conspiracy.  The conspiracy is alleged to have utilized several different schemes to steal and misappropriate vehicles, commit bank fraud in order to obtain vehicles, and obtain insurance proceeds by staging accidents and filing false theft reports.        

The indictment alleges that the defendants stole luxury automobiles, sports utility vehicles, and pickup trucks from individuals and automobile dealerships, in the Eastern District of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, which they transported to the Eastern District of Missouri.  They disabled any tracking systems, like Onstar on the stolen vehicles so that they couldn't be traced by law enforcement.        

In addition, it is charged that the defendants themselves, or “straw” purchasers, made false statements on loan applications and submitted fraudulent earnings statements in support to obtain loans to purchase typically high-end vehicles.  The defendants used and then sold or disposed of the vehicles, while the loan defaulted, either immediately or after a short payment history. According to the indictment, the defendants also practiced fraud related to the titling of vehicles, obtaining by false statements apparently legitimate ownership to vehicles they had stolen from individuals.  On many occasions, the defendants falsely claimed to have done repair work which wasn’t actually performed on vehicles submitted to their businesses, inducing lien holders to pay the defendants money to avoid the issuance of a mechanics lien.  Over 100 vehicles have been fully identified as being involved in the criminal activity, although investigators believe many more were actually involved.       

The following people were arrested Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.   

SHELDON MITCHELL, 42, Ballwin                                                    

SHAHADU SUTTON, 38, St. Louis

TIFFANY SUTTON, 38, St. Louis

ORLANDO PRESTON, 38, St. Louis

WILLIAM SMITH, 48, Highland, KS

ROBERT REECE, 40, St. Louis

JOHN HICKS, 30, St. Louis

REGINALD DAVIS, 30, Florissant

STEVEN PIRTLE, 45, St. Louis

CHESTER WILSON, 41, St. Louis

ARVIS DUNBAR, 47, St. Louis

EUGENE DUNBAR, 63, St. Louis

MICHAEL SMITH, 40, Florissant

TERRELLE MARION, 46, Florissant

JERMAINE GAMBLE, 32, Custody

JOSEPH PEARSON, 38, St. Louis area

Charges include conspiracy, bank fraud, mail fraud and receipt of stolen motor vehicle.  If convicted, these charges carry penalties ranging from five to 30 years in prison and/or fines up to $1,000,000.  In determining the actual sentences, a Judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.