Dublin man gets federal prison for attempting to steal cars from FBI
DUBLIN – A 39-year-old Dublin man was sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday for various crimes, including attempting to steal cars from the FBI, according to federal prosecutors.
The prison sentencing for Quinten Giovanni Moody, also known as Christano Rossi, came nearly six months after he admitted to transporting marijuana out of state, committing insurance fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, and creating fake FBI documents to attempt to get two of his government-seized vehicles released back to him, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California said.
Between June 2017 and June 2022, Moody, a co-defendant and other co‑conspirators generated hundreds of thousands of dollars by transporting marijuana from California to Georgia, Nevada, Texas, and other states, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said that Moody and others purchased marijuana in the state and then sent it to distributors in other states through couriers via commercial air flights and shipping services.
Moody and the others got the proceeds of their marijuana sales by ordering couriers to carry cash and travel via commercial airline flights. They also used shipping services to deliver cash and ordered others to deposit money into their bank accounts, according to prosecutors.
Moody and others also committed unemployment insurance fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in 2020, Moody participated in a scheme to submit fraudulent unemployment benefit claims during the pandemic. He used another person's identity to get a benefits card through Bank of America that he used to buy things at two Las Vegas high-end stores, Louis Vuitton and Cartier, prosecutors said.
As part of its investigation, the U.S. government seized two vehicles from Moody in April 2022 that were purchased with money he obtained illegally, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro and a 1956 Chevrolet pickup truck, prosecutors said.
The vehicles were transported to an FBI field office for storage, but on May 8 that year, a flat-bed truck arrived at the facility and the driver told FBI security personnel that he had been instructed to take the vehicles out of federal custody. The driver gave the FBI security team a document that purported to be an order issued by a judge ordering the U.S. Marshals Service and FBI to release the vehicles.
The documents were fake, however, and were created by Moody. He tried the same thing days after, again sending a tow truck and having the driver present fraudulent documentation stating the vehicles were to be released, prosecutors said.
"This defendant committed felonies involving drugs and identity theft, then doubled down by obstructing justice," U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said in a statement. "After making hundreds of thousands of dollars distributing marijuana across the country and fraudulently claiming unemployment insurance benefits during the coronavirus pandemic, he used phony court documents in a failed attempt to get the FBI to release property seized during the federal investigation. The U.S. Attorney's Office is committed to hold accountable those who engage in such brazen violations of federal criminal law."
Two of his co-conspirators are facing charges, according to prosecutors.