NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Last fall, three men and a woman, two from the Bronx and two from Mount Vernon, perpetrated an identity theft scam at the Mercedes-Benz of New Rochelle car dealership.
All four were convicted today from crimes related to the theft a $233,000 Mercedes sedan on September 26, 2015, Acting Westchester County District Attorney James A. McCarty announced.
Devon Guishard, 33, of 4142 Bruner Avenue, Bronx, New York pled guilty today to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony. Guishard will be sentenced on September 7, 2016.
Michael Maurice Grayson 52, of 2028 Washington Avenue, Bronx, New York pled guilty today to one count of Identity Theft in the First Degree, a class “D” Felony. Grayson will be sentenced on September 9, 2016.
Tameek White, 22, of 60 East 4th Street, Mount Vernon, New York pled guilty today to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony. White was sentenced today to time served in jail.
Patricia Fields, 57, of 60 East 4th Street, Mount Vernon, New York pled guilty today to one count of Identity Theft in the First Degree, a class “D” Felony. Fields will be sentenced on September 16, 2016.
Grayson and Fields will receive an indeterminate sentence of 1 to 3 years in State Prison and Guishard will receive an indeterminate sentence of 2 to 4 years in State Prison.
On the day of the incident, defendants Grayson, Fields, and White entered Mercedes-Benz of New Rochelle with the intent of driving away unlawfully with a brand new $233,440 dollar Mercedes sedan. To that end, defendants Grayson and Fields assumed the identity of two separate victims and used the victims’ social security numbers, forged United States Passport cards, and forged driver’s licenses to obtain financing in order to fraudulently purchase the high-end vehicle. Defendants Grayson and Fields forged the victims’ signatures on multiple applications and purchase documents.
In order to make the sale appear genuine, defendant White brought $9,900 dollars to the dealership as a down payment for the vehicle.
Defendant Guishard was the ring leader of the scheme. He remained in contact via cellular telephone with White about the progress of the sale and he e-mailed the insurance binder for the car to the salesman; the insurance and registration were in the name of one of the victims.
Upon learning that his co-defendants had successfully “purchased” the vehicle, Guishard arrived at the dealership, received the keys, and drove the high-end car off the lot.
The aim of this fraud was to re-sell the vehicles to individuals in other states. After being allegedly re-sold, the Mercedes was recovered in Texas.
The two victims of this identity theft fraud were a retired FBI agent from Ohio and a doctor from Florida. The investigation revealed that this ring carried out similar high-end vehicle identity theft scams in other parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Arizona, California, and Texas.
Assistant District Attorney Stefanie DeNise of the Investigations Division is prosecuting the case.