S3006 SCS S3345

Sponsored by:

Senator RICHARD J. CODEY

District 27 (Essex and Morris)

Senator PAUL A. SARLO

District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)

Senator ANTHONY M. BUCCO

District 25 (Morris and Somerset)

Senator JOSEPH A. LAGANA

District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Sacco, Oroho, Corrado, O'Scanlon, Holzapfel, Bramnick, Singleton, Madden, Singer, Schepisi and Gopal

SYNOPSIS

Establishes crimes of participant in auto theft trafficking network and persistent auto theft trafficking offender; upgrades auto theft trafficking crimes involving juvenile.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Substitute as adopted by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

An Act concerning automobile theft, amending P.L.1991, c.82, and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.

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] one or more other person as an organizer, supervisor, financier [or], manager, or recruiter to engage for profit or to commit 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 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] $250,000 or five times the retail value of the automobiles or automobile parts seized at the time of the arrest, whichever is greater.

b. Leader of an auto theft trafficking network is a crime of the first degree if a person, while engaging in a course of conduct in violation of subsection a. of this section, uses, solicits, directs, hires, employs, or recruits a person 17 years of age or younger to join or actively participate in the network. It shall be no defense to a prosecution pursuant to this subsection that the actor mistakenly believed that the person who the actor used, solicited, directed, hired, employed, or recruited was older than 17 years of age, even if such mistaken belief was reasonable. 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 arrest, whichever is greater.

c. A person is a participant in an auto theft trafficking network if the person engages in or conspires with others in any capacity, other than as a leader of an auto trafficking network pursuant to subsection a. of this section, to engage for profit or to commit 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 third degree.

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:43-3, the court may impose a fine for a violation of this subsection not to exceed $100,000 or five times the retail value of the automobiles or automobile parts seized at the time of the arrest, whichever is greater.

d. It is a crime of the second degree if a person who is at least 18 years of age is a participant in an auto theft trafficking network in violation of subsection c. of this section and:

(a) knowingly uses, solicits, directs, hires, employs, or recruits a person 17 years of age or younger to violate the provisions of subsection c. of this section; or

(b) participates in an auto theft trafficking network that also includes a person 17 years of age or younger who is a participant in the network in violation of the provisions of subsection c. of this section.

It shall be no defense to a prosecution pursuant to this subsection that the actor did not know that an auto theft trafficking network included a person 17 years of age or younger as a participant, or mistakenly believed that the person who the actor used, solicited, directed, hired, employed, or recruited was 18 years of age or older, even if such mistaken belief was reasonable.

e. 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.

f. 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.

g. 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. (New section) Persistent auto theft trafficking offender sentencing.

a. Upon request of the prosecutor, a person who has been convicted of a crime of leader of an auto theft trafficking network or participant in an auto theft trafficking network pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1991, c.82 (C.2C:20-18) shall be sentenced to an extended term of imprisonment pursuant to N.J.S.2C:43-7 if the person has previously been convicted on two or more prior and separate occasions, regardless of the dates of the convictions, of a crime pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1991, c.82 (C.2C:20-18), or a crime under any statute of the United States, this State, or any other state that is substantially equivalent to any of the crimes enumerated in section 1 of P.L.1991, c.82 (C.2C:20-18).

b. The provisions of this section shall not apply unless the prior convictions are for crimes committed on a separate occasion and the crime for which the defendant is being sentenced was committed either:

(1) within 10 years of the date of the defendant’s last release from confinement for the commission of any crime; or

(2) within 10 years of the date of the commission of the most recent of the crimes enumerated in subsection a. of this section for which the defendant has a prior conviction.

c. The court shall not impose a sentence of imprisonment pursuant to this section, unless the ground therefor has been established at a hearing after the conviction of the defendant and on written notice to the defendant of the ground proposed. The defendant shall have the right to hear and controvert the evidence against him and to offer evidence upon the issue. Prior convictions shall be defined and proven in accordance with N.J.S.2C:44-4.

3. This act shall take effect immediately.