ASSEMBLY, No. 5034

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

220th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED JANUARY 10, 2023

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  P. CHRISTOPHER TULLY

District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblywoman  SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex)

Assemblywoman  LISA SWAIN

District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Upgrades crime of leader of auto theft trafficking network; establishes second degree crime of participant in auto theft trafficking network.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act concerning automobile theft and amending P.L.1991, c.82.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    Section 1 of P.L.1991, c.82 (C.2C:20-18) is amended to read as follows:

     1.    a.  A person is a leader of an auto theft trafficking network if [he] the person conspires with others as an organizer, supervisor, financier [or], manager, or recruiter to engage for profit or to commit other criminal activity in a scheme or course of conduct to unlawfully take, dispose of, distribute, bring into, or transport in this State automobiles or automobile parts as stolen property.  Leader of auto theft trafficking network is a crime of the [second] first degree.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:43-3, the court may impose a fine not to exceed [$250,000.00] $500,000 or five times the retail value of the automobiles or automobile parts seized at the time of the arrest, whichever is greater. 

     b.    A person is a participant in an auto theft trafficking network if the person conspires with others as a participant to engage for profit or to commit other criminal activity in a scheme or course of conduct to unlawfully take, dispose of, distribute, bring into, or transport in this State automobiles or automobile parts as stolen property.  Participant in auto theft trafficking network is a crime of the second degree.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:43-3, the court may impose a fine not to exceed $250,000 or five times the retail value of the automobiles or automobile parts seized at the time of the arrest, whichever is greater. 

     c.     Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:1-8, a conviction of leader of auto theft trafficking network or participant in auto theft trafficking network shall not merge with the conviction for any offense which is the object of the conspiracy. Nothing contained in this act shall prohibit the court from imposing an extended term pursuant to N.J.S.2C:43-7; nor shall this act be construed in any way to preclude or limit the prosecution or conviction of any person for conspiracy under N.J.S.2C:5-2, or any prosecution or conviction for any other offense. 

     d.    It shall not be necessary in any prosecution under this act for the State to prove that any intended profit was actually realized. The trier of fact may infer that a particular scheme or course of conduct was undertaken for profit from all of the attending circumstances, including but not limited to the number of persons involved in the scheme or course of conduct, the actor's net worth and [his] expenditures in relation to [his] the actor’s legitimate sources of income, the number of automobiles or automobile parts involved, or the amount of cash or currency involved. 

     e.     It shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this act that the automobile or automobile part was brought into or transported in this State solely for ultimate distribution in another jurisdiction; nor shall it be a defense that any profit was intended to be made in another jurisdiction. 

(cf: P.L.1991, c.82, s.1) 

 

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill upgrades the crime of leader of auto theft trafficking network and establishes a second degree crime of participant in auto theft trafficking network.

     Under current law, a person commits the crime of leader of auto theft trafficking network, a crime of the second degree, if the person conspires with others as an organizer, supervisor, financier, or  manager to engage for profit in a scheme or course of conduct to unlawfully take, dispose of, distribute, bring into, or transport in this State automobiles as stolen property.  A crime of the second degree is punishable by a fine of up to $150,000, a term of imprisonment of five to 10 years, or both.  Under current law, for this crime, a court may impose a fine not to exceed $250,000 or five times the retail value of the automobiles or automobile parts seized at the time of the theft.

     Under the bill, a person is a leader of an auto theft trafficking network if the person conspires with others as an organizer, supervisor, financier, manager, or recruiter to engage for profit or to commit other criminal activity in a scheme or course of conduct to unlawfully take, dispose of, distribute, bring into, or transport in this State automobiles or automobile parts as stolen property.  The bill makes leader of auto theft trafficking network a crime of the first degree.  A crime of the first degree is punishable by a fine of up to $200,000, a term of imprisonment of 10-20 years, or both.  The bill provides that for a person convicted of this crime, the court may impose a fine not to exceed $500,000 or five times the retail value of the automobiles or automobile parts seized at the time of the arrest, whichever is greater. 

     The bill also establishes a new crime of participant in auto theft trafficking network if a person conspires with others as a participant to engage for profit or to commit other criminal activity in a scheme or course of conduct to unlawfully take, dispose of, distribute, bring into, or transport in this State automobiles or automobile parts as

stolen property.  Participant in auto theft trafficking network is a crime of the second degree.  The court may impose a fine on a person convicted of this crime not to exceed $250,000 or five times the retail value of the automobiles or automobile parts seized at the time of the arrest, whichever is greater.