The last of four defendants was sentenced this week in a multi-state theft ring that altered vehicle identification numbers on a variety of equipment used at construction sites, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Louisiana.

Dennis Lloyd Sizemore, of Lafayette, Louisiana, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison and Robert Gregory Brazell, also of Lafayette, Louisiana, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison.

The Court further sentenced both men to serve three years of supervised release following their terms of imprisonment and ordered Sizemore to pay $92,500 in restitution and Brazell to pay $95,000 in restitution.

In imposing the sentences, the Court found that Sizemore, Brazell and their co-defendants, Chrisopher Don Byerley and Adrienne King, carried out a coordinated and complex operation extending across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, in which the group stole, then used or sold the stolen and altered vehicles, including tractors, excavators, forklifts, and a pickup truck, with a total value of over $250,000.

The conspiracy involved tampering with Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs), the use of a chop shop, fraudulent documentation, false business fronts and stolen identities to sell stolen equipment and further conceal their criminal activities

An investigation of a shoplifting incident in the Juban Crossing Shopping Center led Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives to uncover an unregistered firearm silencer and 9mm pistol from a stolen pickup truck being operated by Byerley and King.

Additional other documents, emails, text messages and photos led law enforcement to uncover the conspiracy and far-reaching criminal enterprise.

Byerley was recently sentenced to 115 months in federal prison following his convictions in this conspiracy and for firearm violations. King was sentenced to 48 months.