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Mount Vernon resident Nygel Joseph has been sentenced to a term between two and six years in state prison after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges in August, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Jr. announced on Thursday.
Joseph pleaded guilty to one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument, second-degree grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny, identity theft and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Scarpino said that Thursday’s sentence is the culmination of a prosecution in which Joseph was originally charged for possessing counterfeit money, perpetrating a $75,000 identity theft scheme and another plan to steal auto parts from an out of state vendor while in possession of a stolen car.
Shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 10 last year, the Eastchester Police Department received a phone call from an employee at Mobil on White Plains Road after Joseph attempted to use a fake $100 bill. Joseph was tracked down later that day, identified by the employee and arrested.
While that case was pending, in February of this year, police in Mount Vernon were contacted by the owner of a New Hampshire auto parts business, leading to an investigation that determined Joseph had obtained personal information from four victims, whose names, home addresses and debit card numbers were used to illegally purchase thousands of dollars in parts from the business.
Scarpino said that the same investigation revealed that on March 7 and March 8 last year, Joseph assisted in the theft of a 2006 Acura from a parking lot in Peekskill. The vehicle was transported to Mount Vernon, where it was to be stripped for parts. Joseph was eventually implicated and arrested for his role in that plan.
An investigation by the Mount Vernon Police Department also revealed that from Aug. 10, 2016 to Feb. 13, Joseph also stole $75,962.74 from Capital One Bank. Scarpino said that the investigation determined that Joseph caused Capital One Bank to issue refund checks on various credit card accounts. Those refunds were predicated themselves on fraudulent overpayments made on low credit balances. Those overpayments were then returned for insuffiicient funds after Joseph had stolen the proceeds of the refund checks.
Having been sentenced, Joseph has been remanded into the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections.
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