Mississippi Man Sentenced to 12+ Years for Scheme Using Classified Ads to Steal Numerous ATVs Worth More Than $750,000

Louisiana – Christopher Jackson has been sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for conspiracy to transport stolen motor vehicles in interstate commerce and to sell stolen motor vehicles, as well as interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle. He defrauded 49 victims out of their vehicles, obtaining over 40 vehicles with a combined value of over $780,000.

United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced on Friday, December 16, 2022, that United States District Judge John W. deGravelles sentenced Christopher Jackson, age 37, of Ridgeland, Mississippi, to 150 months (12 years, 6 months) in federal prison for conspiracy to transport stolen motor vehicles in interstate commerce and to sell stolen motor vehicles, and interstate transportation of a stolen motor vehicle. The court also sentenced Jackson to three years of supervised release following his time of incarceration, ordered him to pay restitution in the sum of $712,280.30, and ordered him to forfeit the proceeds of his crime, totaling $375,146.

Jackson was sentenced as a result of a lengthy federal investigation that began in 2019 in response to a spate of reported thefts of late-model, high-end recreational vehicles around the Southeast, including those generally referred to as ATVs or side-by-sides. The investigation encompassed multiple jurisdictions in a dozen different states, and it was finally determined that Jackson defrauded 49 victims out of their vehicles. Through his fraudulent operation, Jackson fraudulently obtained over forty vehicles with a combined value of over $780,000.

Jackson, according to confessions made as part of his guilty plea, would scan internet classified advertisements for used ATVs for sale. Using an identity and typically a new phone number each time, he would contact the seller, negotiate the purchase of the vehicle, and indicate that he would pay off the seller’s outstanding ATV loan sum. Jackson would learn the name of the bank where the seller purchased the vehicle and the loan number through his interactions with the seller. Using the loan number and other identifying information, Jackson would then send fraudulent payment information to the seller’s bank (e.g., a purported payment with the bank’s actual routing number but a fraudulent account number) in an attempt to temporarily signal to the bank’s automated payment system that he had successfully paid the seller’s remaining loan balance.

Jackson would convince the seller that he had paid the seller’s loan and convince the seller to release the ATV to a driver before the bank noticed that Jackson’s supposed payment had not cleared. Jackson often avoided seeing the victims in person, relying instead on other individuals, many of whom he hired via the internet, to meet the victims, take ownership of their vehicles, and transfer them per his instructions. In furtherance of the scam, Jackson caused the stolen vehicles to be transferred across state lines while he promptly resold them for cash.

Jackson was also sentenced to federal prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in a separate case. The federal weapons charge resulted from his arrest in Ridgeland, Mississippi, on June 23, 2021, according to a warrant obtained in the fraud case. Jackson intentionally possessed a reported stolen Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol at the time of his arrest, despite the knowledge that he had previously been convicted of a felony charge and was therefore forbidden from owning a firearm.

This investigation was led by the United States Secret Service, with assistance from a number of other agencies, including the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Louisiana State Police, the Tuscaloosa County (Alabama) Sheriff’s Office, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Ridgeland (Mississippi) Police Department, and the Madison County (Mississippi) District Attorney’s Office.

This case was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel for the United States Attorney’s Office, Assistant United States Attorney Alan A. Stevens, and Assistant United States Attorney Caroline B. Gardner.

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