Haitian Man Living In Laurel Sentenced For Stealing, Shipping Rental Vehicles To Africa

LAUREL, MD — A 30-year-old Haitian citizen living in Laurel has been sentenced for his role in a conspiracy in a stolen vehicle scheme.

According to his plea agreement, between approximately September 2019 and June 2022, Rodley Balthazar worked with others to fraudulently rent vehicles from Hertz, Avis and other car rental companies at locations in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Tennessee and elsewhere. Balthazar rented the vehicles using false identifications and credit cards.

The vehicles then were taken to Maryland where they would be loaded onto large cargo shipping containers and taken to the Port of Baltimore. Then, using false declaration forms and other paperwork to conceal the containers’ contents, the containers with rental vehicles inside would be exported to West Africa via cargo ship where the vehicles would be sold, his plea agreement detailed. At least 40 vehicles were involved in the scheme, officials said.

Balthazar has been sentenced to 37 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Co-conspirator Jonathan Davis, 39, of Laurel, previously pleaded guilty to receipt and possession of stolen vehicles and was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison. A third co-conspirator, Abdul Karim Turay Jr., has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced July 11.