A pair of local men have pleaded guilty and been sentenced in connection to a classic car theft ring.
During a Friday morning hearing at the Ontario Court of Justice in Belleville, Roger Thompson of Belleville and Jack Bradshaw of Quinte West both pleaded guilty to separate charges.
The pair had been arrested in August of 2025, in relation to a police investigation into a classic car theft ring, where 200 cars were taken from a dealer in western Ontario, had their information altered, and were then sold to unsuspecting victims across the province. Police have since recovered dozens of the vehicles, repossessing them from people who thought they had legitimately purchased them. The stolen vehicles have an estimated value of roughly $6.5 million.
Thompson pleaded guilty to altering, destroying, or removing a VIN, while Bradshaw plead guilty to one count of obstructing a peace officer. Other charges against the pair were dropped as part of the plea.
In an agreed upon statement of facts before the court, it was stated that Bradshaw obstructed the police’s investigation by lying about one of the vehicles they were searching for, claiming it had been sold in Quebec while it was still in Ontario. In the same statement of facts, Thompson was said to have illegally replaced the VIN on a stolen vehicle with one from a salvaged wreck of the same make and model.
Both men, who were 74 at the time of their arrest, received a 12 month suspended sentence.
