A judge has handed sentences ranging from 15 months to five years to four Minnesota men who operated a high-volume catalytic converter theft ring

In 2023, a grand jury indicted John Charles Kotten, James Dillon Jensen, Justin Tyme Johnson and Soe Nye Moo on charges of selling $21 million worth of stolen catalytic converters to out-of-state scrap dealers.

According to court documents, the men rented U-Haul trailers and took the pollution control devices to scrap in New York, New Jersey, Colorado and Oklahoma before flying back to Minnesota.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/10/02/judge-sentences-four-men-in-catalytic-converter-theft-scheme