3 NC men charged with theft, sale of luxury vehicles worth more than $5 million: US DOJ

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Three Charlotte men are facing federal charges related to the alleged theft of dozens of luxury and high-end vehicles worth more than $5 million. 

The charges were announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of North Carolina after a criminal indictment was filed in June and unsealed Thursday in federal court. 

Aquanzae Jamal Switzer, 24, Da’Quante Antwone Banks, 24, and Trajan Dakiel Mack, 26, all of Charlotte, are charged with:

• Conspiracy to transport, possess and sell stolen vehicles in interstate commerce;
• Possession of a stolen vehicle; and
• Interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle

“This multi-state automobile theft ring was organized and sophisticated,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “Organized crime has no place in the Western District of North Carolina, and I am grateful to our law enforcement partners for disrupting this operation.”

The indictment alleges that, between 2022 and April 2024, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to steal dozens of high-end motor vehicles worth millions of dollars in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee. To maximize their profits, court documents indicate that Switzer, Banks, and Mack targeted luxury models by BMW, Land Rover, and Mercedez-Benz, as well as trucks, sports utility vehicles, and high-end horsepower models manufactured by Chevrolet, Ford and Jeep.

The defendants allegedly stole multiple vehicles at once, generally at night, using key fob programmers, and conspired with other individuals who served as drivers of the stolen vehicles. The indictment alleges that the defendants, aided and abetted by others, stole 12 vehicles from a dealership in Lillington.

According to the indictment, the co-defendants often sold the stolen vehicles at prices significantly below their retail value and kept some of the vehicles for personal use and to further facilitate the scheme. 

According to jail records, all three were arrested earlier this year in Mecklenburg County on more than 150 combined felony charges related to vehicle thefts. Switzer had 93 counts of either motor vehicle theft or conspiracy to commit vehicle theft.
 
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. 

This is the sixth indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Charlotte for federal offenses involving the interstate theft of vehicles since 2023. 

U.S. Attorney Ferguson commended the Secret Service and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police for their investigation of this case. The FBI and the National Insurance Crime Bureau and Homeland Security Investigations assisted in prior prosecutions.