Harris County resident charged in scheme to steal $1M worth of Jeeps and other vehicles

HOUSTON - A 29-year-old Houston man is charged with orchestrating a scheme to steal more than 25 vehicles worth over $1 million, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Kenneth Dwayne Westbrook is set to make his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Christina Bryan at 2 p.m.

According to the charges, Westbrook recruited individuals through Instagram by promising to pay them money to rent vehicles for him. Instead of returning the vehicles, he allegedly picked up the vehicles, had them driven to Mexico and ignored renters' calls and messages imploring him to return them. The charges allege Westbrook repeated this scheme with more than 25 vehicles causing a loss of over $1 million.

If convicted, Westbrook faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine for each count in the indictment.

The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tyler White and Michael Chu are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.