Car theft is a significant problem all over the county. It typically happens to private owners or car showrooms, but there can also be other means. Specifically, some bad actors use identity fraud to obtain vehicles they should not have. Recently, one Connecticut woman pleaded guilty to this, and now she’s facing 14 months behind bars for her role in the car theft and fraud ring. 

These people used identity fraud to commit car theft over several years

According to CT Post, Stephanie Perez and her husband, Tyshon Walker, used stolen identifying information from other people to apply for auto loans. The report says they started this crime in 2020 and targeted residents from Connecticut and other states, such as Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Regarding the vehicles, they sought out high-performance models, luxury cars, boats, and motorcycles. 

Apparently, the husband-and-wife crime duo had multiple people involved in their instances of identity fraud. Notably, they employed “runners” to pick up the vehicles from dealerships after they were approved for loans. These runners would have fake driver’s licenses with the name of the person whose identity they used for the car theft. As is often the case, they sold the vehicles on Facebook Marketplace. The report says that one of Stephanie’s primary roles in the criminal enterprise centered around helping select runners. 

Regarding the runners, one of the men was Stephanie’s father. The man’s name is Elvis Perez, 60, and he received a 5-year sentence in December. Finally, police arrested the woman for her part in the identity fraud on April 10, 2024. The woman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud in December of that year. Now, a court has sentenced her to 14 months in prison after her instances of crime reached the $1 million threshold.