A Broussard man, convicted of charges related to a multi-state theft ring, has received a nine-year sentence in federal prison.
Christopher Byerley, 45, was sentenced to 115 months in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to transport a stolen motor vehicle, altering, removing, and obliterating a vehicle identification number, possessing fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, possessing an unregistered silencer, and possessing a firearm as a prior convicted felon.
Following his prison sentence, he was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and pay $127,000 in reparations to the victims.
According to the Department of Justice, between October 2021 and March 2022, Byerley and co-conspirators planned a multi-state operation in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas in which stolen tractors, excavators, forklifts, and a pickup truck worth more than $250,000 were used or sold.
Officials said the crimes included tampering with vehicle identification numbers, employing a chop shop, fraudulent documents, selling under bogus business names, and unauthorized possession of over 400 identities and access devices.
A shoplifting probe in Livingston Parish in February 2022 led authorities to Byerley.
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