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HOUSTON — A Texas man is accused of concocting a scheme to steal 25 vehicles worth more than $1 million and then sell them in Mexico, federal authorities said Monday.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Kenneth Dwayne Westbrook, 29, of Houston, was arrested after an investigation by the FBI’s Houston office.
According to investigators, Westbrook allegedly recruited people through Instagram and promised to pay them to rent vehicles for him, KHOU-TV reported. However, instead of returning the vehicles, Westbrook allegedly had them taken to Mexico, ignoring the pleas of the renters for their return, according to KPRC-TV.
Westbrook allegedly recruited individuals via Instagram and paid them to rent vehicles for him. Instead of returning the vehicles, he allegedly had them driven to Mexico and sold them to alleged cartel members.
— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) May 6, 2024
Federal investigators claimed that Westbrook repeated the process with more than 25 vehicles, resulting in a loss of more than $1 million, the television station reported.
According to FBI Houston, Westbrook allegedly sold the vehicles to Mexican drug cartel members.
According to the news release, Westbrook could face a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison if found guilty, along with a potential maximum fine of $250,000 for each count listed in the indictment.
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