Miami-Dade County Men Sentenced in Export Violation Case

JACKSONVILLE, FL—U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Osarobo George Omorose (43, Miami-Dade County) to 18 months’ federal imprisonment and Dennis Edward Joseph (50, Miami) to 180 days of house arrest and three years of probation, respectively, on the charge of aiding and abetting the attempted exportation of stolen motor vehicles The court further ordered Omorose to pay restitution totaling $75,548.18 to 14 different victims. On October 25, 2010, Omorose pled guilty to a federal indictment charging him with aiding and abetting the attempted export of stolen motor vehicles. On October 21, 2010, Joseph pled guilty to a federal indictment charging him with the same crime.

According to court documents, starting in February 2007, Omorose began receiving stolen vehicles from unknown individuals. In an effort to conceal the stolen nature of the vehicles, the vehicle identification numbers (VIN) were removed. The VINs were replaced with VINs from totaled or destroyed motor vehicles with the same make, model, and approximate year as the stolen vehicles. Following the alteration of the VINs, Omorose made arrangements for his co-defendant, Dennis Edward Joseph (Joseph), to export the vehicles from Jacksonville, Florida to Nigeria. Joseph owned Cargo Maritime Services, Inc. (CMS) and used his company to make arrangements for the stolen vehicles to be brought to the JAXPORT Blount Island Terminal. As part of the scheme, Omorose used various fraudulent documents, to include bills of sale and certificates of destruction that included the VIN fraudulently placed on the stolen vehicles. He also used various identities when making export arrangements. Joseph, through CMS, arranged to have ten stolen vehicles exported from Jacksonville to Nigeria on behalf of Omorose. Law enforcement intercepted all ten stolen vehicles before they reached Nigeria.

This case was investigated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kevin C. Frein.