Theft crew responsible for an estimated $2 million in losses across Massachusetts and New Hampshire during 2022 and 2023
Another member of one of the notorious New England catalytic converter theft crew has been sentenced in federal court. Nicolas Davila of Springfield man was sentenced to 37 months in prison, with an additional five year of supervised release, for his role in a regional organized theft crew that stole catalytic converters from nearly 500 vehicles, robbed jewelry stores and stole ATMs.
Mr. Davila was first arrested and charged in April 2023, along with six others in connection with the theft, transportation and sale of stolen catalytic converters taken from at least 496 vehicles across Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 2022 through April 2023 alone.
In October 2023, Davila, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce; two counts of interstate transportation of stolen property; and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The drug charge arose from cocaine found during the search of Nicolas Davila’s residence as part of the catalytic converter theft investigation.
The charge of conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charges of interstate transportation of stolen property each provide for a sentence of up to 10 years, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine provides for a sentence of up to 20 years, at least three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
A well-honed plan executed with planning and precision
A member of a skilled, organized theft crew allegedly led by his brother, Rafael Davila, the group devised and executed a well-honed plan that utilized battery operated power-tools, car jacks to cut away and steal catalytic converters from vehicles across Massachusetts and into New Hampshire. The catalytic converter thefts were predicated upon the use of an internet application that provided real-time pricing for catalytic converters quantifying the commodity prices of the amounts of precious metal in a particular vehicle’s converter.
Equipped with that special knowledge of the values on the black market and technical skill with vehicles, the defendants targeted specific makes and models of vehicles to maximize the profits along carefully mapped routes. They used a specific vehicle equipped with anonymous license plates during their crime spree believing it would not provide an avenue of investigation for law enforcement.
The theft crew would then travel hundreds of miles, hours on end in a single night, to specific locations, including home driveways and business parking lots, where large numbers of these vehicles were located in order obtain an economy of scale.
The profits were substantial with one text messaging by Davila revealing that “even with the precious metals market price having gone down, they were still making $4,000 from one night.”
Once in possession of the stolen catalytic converters, the crew would then sell them to Jose Torres, who would accumulate stolen catalytic converters from multiple theft crews and then in turn sell them to scrap dealers in the Northeast – transacting approximately $30,000 to $80,000 in stolen catalytic converters per week.
In particular, Torres sold stolen catalytic converters to scrap dealers who have since been charged federally for interstate transportation of stolen property and money laundering in the District of Connecticut, the Eastern District of California and Northern District of Oklahoma.
Most thefts took less than a minute to complete
According to court documents, the crew were highly skilled at stealing converters. For most thefts, the authorities state that it took the crew less than a minute to remove a converter and then to move on. On numerous occasions and with utter disregard to the damage to individuals and businesses caused by their actions, the crew targeted more than 10 vehicles in a single night, with one night reporting thefts from 26 vehicles.
The victims of these crimes number more than 300, with the authorities believing a significant number of additional thefts were never identified nor reported to law enforcement.
As a result of the thefts, losses were determined to be approximately $5,000 per vehicle with certain trucks costing over $10,000 to repair. This amounts to an approximate $2 million in losses suffered by more than 300 separate victims who were forced to deal with their vehicles being disabled for potentially weeks on end. The more than 300 victims included businesses and individuals from all walks of life and all parts of Massachusetts and some from New Hampshire. They included a food pantry, families, automotive businesses, tradesmen, a bakery, single parents, a home healthcare provider and the elderly. Some businesses were repeatedly targeted on multiple nights.
Among the three-hundred or more individuals and businesses severely damaged by the thefts, victims included a “medical/life sciences supply company” in Canton, which was targeted on two nights for five vehicles resulting in $12,114 in costs and the loss of their vehicles for over 60 days. Another business in the construction industry had seven vehicles targeted. The company ended up paying over $7,770 in temporary fixes and anti-theft devices.
Noted drop in thefts since takedown of catalytic converter theft crew
Since the arrest of the members of this theft crew, authorities noted in the court case that there has been a precipitous decline in catalytic converter thefts reported in Massachusetts as a result of the April 2023 takedown – with only seven reported incidents of catalytic converter theft over the past 11 months following the arrests, in comparison to the hundreds of thefts reported during the nine-month period prior.
Nicolas Davila is the fifth defendant to plead guilty in this case. In addition to the federal charges, Nicolas Davila separately faces a pending murder indictment in Hampden County Superior Court. His brother and the alleged leader of the theft crew, Rafael Davila, has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent.
Why are catalytic converters a target of theft?
Catalytic converter theft has become a nationwide problem across a multitude of state, local, and federal jurisdictions due to the high-valued precious metals they contain – some of which are more valuable than gold, with black-market prices being more than $1,000 each in recent years.
The theft of a vehicle’s catalytic converter results in damage that renders the vehicle inoperable – both mechanically and legally under EPA regulations.
