BALTIMORE, Md. — A Maryland woman was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison on Tuesday for her role in a scheme to ship stolen luxury vehicles to West Africa. Maimouna Bagayoko, 54, of Owings Mills, was sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge George Levi Russell III for wire fraud and receiving stolen motor vehicles. In addition to her prison term, Bagayoko was ordered to pay $60,569.87 in restitution and will serve two years of supervised release following her sentence.
The Department of Justice said this operation was tied to car thefts in New York and New Jersey.
According to federal prosecutors, Bagayoko’s scheme operated in 2021 and involved the coordination of stolen vehicles being brought into Maryland. She worked with others to load the stolen cars into large cargo shipping containers, which were then moved to the Port of Baltimore.
Authorities reported that fraudulent documentation was used to conceal the vehicles’ presence in the containers.
Prosecutors stated that Bagayoko sent fake documents via email and text messages to the shipping company to facilitate the illicit shipments.
The total value of the vehicles recovered exceeded $650,000, most of which had been stolen from residences in New Jersey and New York.
The investigation was led by multiple law enforcement agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and local police departments. U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the work of these agencies, which included the Baltimore Police Department and the Baltimore County Police Department.
Officials have confirmed that the vehicles were intended to be shipped illegally to West Africa before the scheme was uncovered.
