3 Sentenced for Stealing Converters in Missouri and a Scheme to Transport Stolen Catalytic Converters Across State Lines
Thousands of Catalytic Converters Stolen as Part of a Multi-Million-Dollar Business
Missouri residents Evan Marshall, Cody Ryder, and Camren Joseph Davis were sentenced on Dec. 19, 2022, by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool for stealing and transporting catalytic converters, federal officials said.
Missouri residents Evan Marshall, 25, of Rogersville; Cody Ryder, 31, of Springfield; and Camren Joseph Davis, 25, of Rogersville, were sentenced on Dec. 19, 2022, by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool for stealing and transporting catalytic converters, federal officials said.
“These three defendants were the ringleaders of a scheme that impacted thousands of area residents,” said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore. “We worked closely with a number of our law enforcement partners to shut down their multimillion-dollar operation and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Plead Guilty & Sentenced
On June 16, 2022, Marshall pleaded guilty to one count of transporting stolen property across state lines. Ryder pleaded guilty on June 13, 2022, and Davis pleaded guilty on April 21, 2022, to their roles in a conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines.e
Marshall was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison without parole. Ryder was sentenced to two years and five months in federal prison without parole. Davis was sentenced to five years of probation. The court also imposed a $750,000 money judgment against Marshall to be forfeited to the government, ordered Marshall to pay $19,133 in restitution to victims of the conspiracy who law enforcement were able to identify.
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Ryder was sentenced to two years and five months in federal prison without parole. Davis was sentenced to five years of probation. The court imposed money judgments against Ryder and Davis to forfeit to the government $125,000 each.
U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri
HSI says that Marshall admitted to stolen catalytic converters valued at $1 million or more across state lines from December 2019 to October 2021. Authorities say that Marshall also admitted to purchasing tens of thousands of stolen catalytic converters directly from his co-defendants and other thieves and sold the stolen catalytic converters for about $1 million.
Timeline of Events & Schemes Inner Workings
Marshall began selling the catalytic converters to a company in Mountain Home, Arkansas, in the fall of 2019. At that time, Marshall would purchase junk vehicles and sell the vehicles’ parts, including the catalytic converters. In the late fall of 2019, the owners of the Mountain Home company asked Marshall if he would begin purchasing catalytic converters in southwest Missouri and sell to them exclusively.
Marshall agreed to do so; in return, they regularly provided Marshall with cash so that Marshall had the funds to purchase a higher volume of catalytic converters. They also provided Marshall with a list of valuable catalytic converters.
By January 2020, the owners of the Mountain Home company were wiring Marshall hundreds of thousands of dollars on a monthly basis so that Marshall could purchase a higher volume of detached catalytic converters.
By December 2019, Marshall had also enlisted Davis to work for him and another company, which Marshall also established in December 2019. Davis’s job was to purchase catalytic converters using cash that Marshall provided him.
Davis admitted that he bought at least 1,500 stolen catalytic converters from various thieves and sold them to Marshall for a total of approximately $250,000. From February 2021 through October 2021, Marshall provided Ryder with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to purchase catalytic converters on Marshall’s behalf.
From December 2019 through October 2021, in addition to utilizing Davis and Ryder as buyers of stolen catalytic converters, Marshall also purchased stolen catalytic converters directly from thieves. Despite being put on notice that he was purchasing stolen catalytic converters, Marshall continued to purchase stolen catalytic converters.
Marshall transported and sold almost all of the catalytic converters, including the stolen catalytic converters, to the owners of the Mountain Home business.
Marshall, Davis, Ryder and others loaded the catalytic converters, including the stolen catalytic converters, into bins that were placed on trailers at Marshall’s residence. They hauled the trailers, which each contained between 800 and 1,200 catalytic converters, many of which were stolen, from Rogersville to Mountain Home. Marshall transported catalytic converters from Rogersville to Mountain Home approximately every two weeks from December 2019 through October 2021.
“Our community is painfully aware that catalytic converter thefts are not victimless crimes,” said Josh Armstrong, acting special agent in charge of the Homeland Security Office in Kansas City. “While many may consider catalytic converter thefts to be victimless, all too often criminals involved in these types of thefts sometimes funnel the profits gained to organized criminal networks to fund additional, more dangerous crimes.”
