MEDFORD MAN SENTENCED TO 3-6 YEARS IN PRISON FOR STRING OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER THEFTS

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Jason Labbe, 46, of Medford, was sentenced to three to six years in prison, after pleading guilty to Auto Stripping and other related charges, for stealing a car and several catalytic converters in 2022.

“We will not tolerate quality-of-life crimes like catalytic converter theft in Suffolk County,” said District Attorney Tierney. “I hope this sentence sends the message that we will continue to vigorously prosecute criminals who negatively impact the quality of life in Suffolk County.”

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, on August 22, 2022, Labbe broke into the parking lot of a business in Calverton and removed catalytic converters from three vehicles. On December 5, 2022, Labbe removed a catalytic converter from a work truck parked in front of a home in Shirley. Then, on December 20, 2022, Labbe stole a car that was parked in front of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Medford.

Catalytic converters are a part of a vehicle’s exhaust device and use precious metals to reduce pollutants from a vehicle’s engine. These precious metals make catalytic converters a target for theft.

On December 20, 2023, Labbe pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Steven A. Pilewski, to one count of Auto Stripping in the First Degree, a Class D felony, and two counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Class D felonies.

On February 9, 2024, Justice Pilewski sentenced Labbe to three to six years in prison. He was represented by Christopher Gioe, Esq.

Jason Labbe’s brother, Daniel Labbe, 43, of Medford, had previously pleaded guilty in April 2023 to Auto Stripping in the Second Degree, a Class E felony, for stealing a catalytic converter from a truck in Rocky Point. Daniel Labbe was sentenced to two to four years in prison in May 2023. At the time of that sentence, he was already serving a prison sentence of two to four years for a previous catalytic converter theft in which he was sentenced in January 2023.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Blythe C. Miller of the Financial Crimes Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detective Michael Carrieri of the Riverhead Town Police Department, and Detectives Adam Friedlander and Stephen Masciopinto of the Suffolk County Police Department.

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

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