According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of North Carolina, a federal grand jury returned a criminal indictment earlier this week, which remained under seal until today, charging three Charlotte men with conspiring to steal high-end vehicles.
Jonathan Marquis Stitt, 36, Francisco Arnoldo Lopez Pena, 41, and Jason Randall Spearman, 43, are charged with conspiring to violate federal laws related to the transportation, possession, and sale of stolen vehicles, as well as altering or removing vehicle identification numbers (VINs), according to the department.
Each defendant is additionally charged with altering VINs on specific vehicles. Stitt faces two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle, while Spearman is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the department said.
Between 2020 and October 2024, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly engaged in a scheme to steal luxury vehicles worth millions of dollars from businesses and individuals in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Maryland.