'Operation Master Key' Ended Sophisticated Westchester Car Theft Ring

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Operation "Master Key" took down a prolific and organized car theft ring operating in Westchester County, according to the New York Attorney General.

AG Letitia James has announced the guilty pleas and sentencing of nine members of a Bronx car theft ring for their roles in the theft and criminal possession of 45 vehicles during a six-month period from April to October 2020.

The ring carried out a systematic operation during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, targeting cars in New York City and Westchester County that were parked on the street for days at a time. Crew members would reprogram vehicles' computers to disable alarms and quickly gain access to the cars, which they then resold across the United States and the Dominican Republic.

The takedown was a result of a two-year investigation by the Attorney General's OCTF and NYPD's Auto Crime Division. The investigation began in ­­­­September 2019 and included hundreds of hours of physical and covert surveillance, court-authorized wiretapping of numerous targeted phones, execution of search warrants, and the recovery of surveillance video capturing the thefts of numerous vehicles.

"These individuals took advantage of New Yorkers who stayed at home in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to steal some of their most valuable assets," James said. "Using sophisticated methods, they stole and sold cars throughout New York City and Westchester County. Now we are bringing them to justice, and I thank my partners in local law enforcement for their coordination and support in taking down this dangerous car theft ring and continuing to protect the safety of all New Yorkers.”

The investigation, dubbed "Operation Master Key," for the theft crew’s ability to create keys to gain access to different vehicles, found that crew members Norberto Pena Brito, Jose Lebron Pimentel, Dariberto Fernandez Perez and Hector Rivera were responsible for locating, stealing, altering, and reselling stolen vehicles throughout New York City and Westchester.

From April 2020 to October 2020, when New Yorkers stayed at home and parked their cars for days at a time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this crew scoped out and targeted cars to steal, primarily targeting Hondas. They obtained key code information for these vehicles from unlawful websites and created keys that allowed them to breach and steal the vehicles. Once inside a vehicle, they reprogrammed its computer system to gain control of the vehicle, disable alarms, and start the engine. In a matter of minutes, crew members were able to steal a vehicle without sounding alarms or drawing any attention, even in a dense urban setting. The theft crew was also able to reprogram the vehicle to stop recognizing the true owners' electronic keys, so they stopped working.

Members of the crew took the vehicles back to one of several lots located in the Bronx, where the vehicles were altered and the vehicle identification numbers (VINs) were changed to give the stolen cars a new identity. Crew members installed fake VIN plates on the floors of the cars that covered the true VIN plates. They also forged federal certification stickers on the cars and removed the legitimate registration stickers.

Jesus Cabral was hired to remove and replace windshields and to change vehicle VINs assigned by the manufacturer. At times, Pena Brito and Lebron Pimentel would also buy stolen cars from Carlos Valverde. Afterwards, crew members sold the stolen cars to their customers, including to Willy Abreu Martinez and Abdul Khan, who were two of the high-volume customers purchasing the stolen cars for resale in the United States and in the Dominican Republic.

Leticia Saldivar, the owner and operator of Carmela's Multiservice and Auto Tag in Philadelphia, was recruited to obtain, organize, and file fictitious vehicle documents with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and obtained clean registrations and titles for stolen vehicles.

Nine defendants have since pled guilty and were sentenced in Bronx Supreme Court on March 8.

Pena Brito, 38, was sentenced to one to three years in prison, and ordered to pay nearly $40,000 in restitution. He pleaded guilty in July to felony criminal possession of stolen property and felony conspiracy.

Pimentel 42, was sentenced to one year in prison. He pleaded guilty in February to felony criminal possession of stolen property.

Fernandez Perez, 33, was sentenced to one to three years in prison. He pleaded guilty in June to felony criminal possession of stolen property and felony conspiracy.

Rivera, 54, was sentenced to five years of probation. He pleaded guilty in May to felony criminal possession of stolen property and felony conspiracy.

Abreu Martinez, 41, was sentenced to five years of probation. He pleaded guilty in May to felony criminal possession of stolen property and felony conspiracy.

Cabral, 58, was sentenced to five years of probation. He pleaded guilty in July to felony criminal possession of stolen property and felony conspiracy.

Valverde, 36, served over two years in jail. He pleaded guilty in June 2022 to felony attempted criminal possession of stolen property.

Khan, 37, was sentenced to six months in jail. He pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Saldivar, 39, was sentenced to six months in jail. She pleaded guilty in February to offering a false instrument for filing.

This was just the latest takedown of a car theft organization by New York AG. In August, James announced the convictions of six members of a crew responsible for over 200 burglaries of businesses in the Lower Hudson Valley, New York City and on Long Island, including car dealerships.

"These sentences are the result of New York law enforcement’s tireless efforts to remove a highly active auto theft ring from the streets of our city," NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban explained. "NYPD detectives, in partnership with our colleagues on the state Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force, vow to continue investigating and dismantling any such criminal operations that target innocent New Yorkers."