A judge has handed sentences ranging from 15 months to five years to four Minnesota men who operated a high-volume catalytic converter theft ring.

In 2023, a grand jury indicted John Charles Kotten, James Dillon Jensen, Justin Tyme Johnson, and Soe Nye Moo on charges of selling $21 million worth of stolen catalytic converters to out-of-state scrap dealers.

According to court documents, the men rented U-Haul trailers and took the pollution control devices to scrap in New York, New Jersey, Colorado and Oklahoma before flying back to Minnesota.

All four pleaded guilty. Last week, Judge Eric Tostrud sentenced Johnson, 34, one of the group's leaders, to more than four years in prison.

Kotten, 43, also a ringleader, received five years at his sentencing hearing in June. Jensen, 36, received

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