Man said stealing buses to offer charter trips was ‘better than selling drugs,’ feds say
A man believed stealing motorcoach buses then offering unauthorized charter bus trips was “better than selling drugs or doing a robbery” and didn’t think he’d spend more than a year in custody if he ever got caught, federal authorities said.
“Everybody gotta hustle,” the Ohio man reportedly told his co-defendant over the phone in 2017, according to court records. “My hustle is the buses. If I get hemmed up, I ain’t gonna do more than a year cause that’s all it carries.”
Derrick Lamont Jones, 57, did get caught, and on May 31, he was sentenced to 54 months in prison, authorities said in a June 2 news release. He’s also been ordered to pay $21,702 in restitution.
Jones, of Toledo, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offense, interstate transportation of stolen vehicles, violation of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His co-defendant in the alleged crimes was sentenced earlier to three years of probation.
His defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on June 6.
Authorities said Jones and co-defendant Kelly Marie Thomas conspired to “steal, conceal and transport motorcoach buses” from 2003 through 2019, according to the news release.
Buses were stolen in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, according to court records.
After stealing the buses, officials said Jones disguised the stolen vehicles by changing the vehicle identification numbers, exterior paint and company logos.
Once the buses were defaced, authorities said Jones and Thomas advertised charter bus trips on the internet and in local newspapers. The advertisements falsely stated that the trips complied with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Department of Transportation rules, and they didn’t mention that the service had no operating authority, officials said.
“Jones had prior experience working as a bus driver and was familiar with the operations of the vehicles,” officials said.
The advertised transportation services included a New York shopping trip, casino trips and a trip to see former President Barack Obama’s inauguration, according to court records.
When federal transportation authorities learned Jones and Thomas were operating trips without approval, authorities said they would then operate service under a new company. Those companies included Destiny Tours, Kelly Tours, Marie’s Tours and Travel, Elite Tours and GT Tours.
In one example, officials said Jones contracted with a Toledo church group for $3,200. He was supposed to take the group to a boxing match in New York City, and he received the first $2,200 before the scheduled trip. But Jones never took the church group, officials said, and he did not return the first payment.
With his ordered restitution, the church group will be paid back in addition to businesses that owned the stolen buses, according to the news release.
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Man said stealing buses to offer charter trips was ‘better than selling drugs,’ feds say."