MEDFORD MAN SENTENCED TO 2 TO 4 YEARS IN PRISON IN SECOND CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFT CASE

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Daniel Labbe, 43, of Medford, was sentenced to two to four years in prison for stealing two catalytic converters from a work truck in Rocky Point. At the time of his plea, Labbe was already serving a prison sentence for a previous catalytic converter theft.

“In Suffolk County, you cannot steal other people’s property without consequence. Our law enforcement partners will find you and arrest you, and we will do our best to send you to prison,” said District Attorney Tierney. “We care about quality-of-life crimes like catalytic converter theft. There is no place in Suffolk County for this kind of conduct that hurts our residents.”

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his plea allocution, on October 22, 2022, at approximately 8:50 a.m., Labbe removed two catalytic converters from a work truck parked at MJM Plumbing & Mechanical, Inc. on Route 25A in Rocky Point. Catalytic converters are a part of a vehicle’s exhaust device and use precious metals in their center to reduce pollutants from a vehicle’s engine. These precious metals, which include palladium, platinum, and rhodium can be more valuable than gold and make catalytic converters a target for theft. They can be stolen from underneath a vehicle in only a few minutes using a reciprocating saw.

On April 27, 2023, Labbe pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Timothy P. Mazzei to Auto Stripping in the Second Degree, a Class E felony. On May 17, 2023, Judge Mazzei sentenced Labbe to two to four years in prison. He was represented by Keith O’Halloran, Esq.

At the time of his sentence, Labbe was already serving two to four years in prison for a previous catalytic converter theft in which he was sentenced on January 13, 2023. The two sentences will run consecutively.

Both of Labbe’s cases were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys James Bartens and Blythe C. Miller of the Financial Crimes Bureau.

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Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.

Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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