CLEVELAND — A federal grand jury has returned indictments against four Northeast Ohio natives accused of participating in a "crime spree" involving millions of dollars worth of stolen cars and U.S. Mail.
The crimes purportedly took place between December of 2021 and February of 2022. The four main defendants are as follows:
- 20-year-old Hakim Benjamin of Cleveland Heights
- 19-year-old Jaylen Harris of Beachwood
- 18-year-old Lavelle Jones of Warrensville Heights
- 20-year-old Devin Rice of Cleveland
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All four have been charged with conspiracy to commit sale or receipt of stolen vehicles and sale or receipt of stolen vehicles for an alleged scheme to steal or purchase high-end automobiles from dealerships in Michigan and later sell them in Northern Ohio. Among the vehicles they apparently targeted were Dodge Durangos, Ram TRXs, and Hellcats.
In addition, Harris, Jones, and Rice have been charged with possession of stolen mail in an apparent conspiracy to rob letter carriers and mailboxes. Authorities claim the trio stole mailbox keys from carriers and use them to pull out valuable parcels from the mail.
Jones was first arrested back on Jan. 31 and charged with robbing and assaulting a mail carrier from the U.S. Postal Service. During their investigation, police later uncovered further details of the various schemes and eventually took the other three defendants into custody after executing a search warrant. All told, officials believe the group stole roughly $2.7 million worth of goods.
Along with the previously mentioned charges, Harris is also accused of illegally possessing a modified machine gun, which officers say they found during a search of his home on Feb. 10. The police departments from Beachwood and Shaker Heights assisted county, state, and federal law enforcement in this case, which will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio.