A conspirator in a multi-state auto theft ring has been sentenced to time served for her role in trying to stealing a Toyota Sequoia from a New Rochelle dealership.
U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel also sentenced Victoria Mendez, 36, to three years of probation, on Jan. 6, and deferred imposing restitution until a co-conspirator is sentenced in April. According to a court record, she has agreed to pay $154,581.
Mendez and co-conspirator Christopher Louis tried to steal six cars worth $390,000 in 45 days in the spring of 2023, according to court records, and got away with four cars valued at $215,000.
A third individual, who is not named in the criminal complaint, directed Mendez and Louis to steal specific car models and colors from specific car dealerships.
Mendez and Louis went together to the dealerships and Mendez posed as the buyer. She used drivers licenses and bank cards based on the names of women who were not part of the scheme, and she signed purchase agreements and took out loans in those names.
In February 2023, she signed for Land Rovers priced at about $70,000 and $68,000, at a New Rochelle dealership. Weeks later, the woman in whose name she bought the cars discovered that she owed money for the loans.
They also stole a Honda Civic from a Jersey City, New Jersey dealer, and a Chevy Tahoe from a dealer in Danbury, Connecticut.
They tried to steal a Toyota Sequoia in New Rochelle, but they tried to flee when they realized that the dealer was stalling. New Rochelle police caught them and arrested them.
Mendez was released from custody on posting bail. A week later, she tried to steal a Ford F150 pickup truck in Stamford, Connecticut. The dealer suspected fraud, called police, and she was arrested.
Mendez was charged in January 2024 with conspiracy to commit fraud with identification documents, in the Toyota Sequoia incident. She pleaded guilty in February 2025.
Mendez agreed in a plea deal to a U.S. probation office calculation of 18 to 24 months in prison, under non-mandatory federal sentencing guidelines. Probation also recommended that she be imprisoned for the full two years.
Mendez’s attorneys – Andrew G. Patel of White Plains and Bruce D. Koffsky of Fairfield, Connecticut – recommended no prison time.
They argued that Mendez’s childhood was marked by an unstable and unsafe home, where her father physically abused her and alienated her from her mother. As an adult, she was trapped in abusive relationships with men who easily manipulated her.
The described her as a low-level participant in crimes orchestrated by others. Her role “stemmed from her vulnerability and desperation, not simply greed or malice. In fact, her profit was paltry – she handed off the cars to others and was paid a pittance.”
Since her arrest, her lawyers say, Mendez has cooperated with law enforcement, sought rehabilitation and developed a strong support network.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton and assistant prosecutor Kathryn P. Wheelock recommended two years in prison.
They argued that she was a key participant in the thefts. She wreaked havoc on the lives of people in whose names she took out car loans. And after she was arrested and bailed out for trying to steal the Toyota Sequoia in New Rochelle, she “went back at it, attempting to steal another car just a week later.”
