All Four Members of High-End Car Theft Ring Targeting Rockland and Beyond Plead Guilty

by Mindy Cohn

Last Thursday, the fourth and final member of a high-end car theft ring pleaded guilty to stealing over $1.5 million in luxury cars from Rockland County, Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut. 

Malik Baker, age 29, from Vauxhall, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in a Newark federal court Thursday, admitting to conspiring to transport stolen vehicles in interstate commerce and receiving a stolen vehicle that had crossed state lines after being stolen. The guilty plea was part of a government plea deal. Sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 2024.

As for the other three members of the gang, Hakeem Smith, from Newark, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison after pleading guilty. Brick City residents Nafique Goodwyn and Bilal Cureton are both still waiting for sentencing.

According to the complaint, the gang members frequently used one stolen car while stealing a second one. One of the cars the gang stole was recovered at Port Newark from a shipping container headed for Ghana.

Other vehicles they were accused of taking include a 2014 Lexus GS stolen from West Long Branch, NJ; a 2017 BMW M4 stolen from Marlton, NJ; a 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600 stolen from Clifton, NJ; a 2017 Mercedes S550, a 2017 BMW Alpina and a 2019 Rolls Royce, stolen from Hewlett Bay Park, NY; a 2019 Land Rover stolen from Kensington, NY; a 2019 Mercede-Maybach stolen from Quogue, NY; a 2017 Mercedes AMG S63 stolen from Orangeburg, NY; and a 2019 BMW X4 M40i stolen from Greenwich, CT.