HARTFORD — A business owner who engaged in large scale trafficking of stolen catalytic converters, and who admitted he caused at least $5 million in losses to victims, pleaded guilty Monday to two federal crimes.
Alexander Kolitsas of Wolcott pleaded guilty in U.S District Court in Hartford to conspiracy to transport stolen goods in interstate commerce and to "promotional money laundering." Kolitsas agreed with prosecutors that federal sentencing guidelines recommend a prison term between 108 and 135 months, or roughly 9-11 years.
Both sides of the case reserved the right to argue for a sentence outside of that range, according to the plea agreement.
Kolitsas was first charged in the case in August 2022 and remains free on $150,000 bond pending sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 22, according to Judge Sarala Nagala.
Federal prosecutors did not pursue several other counts, included in a superseding indictment issued in November 2023. The indictment said Kolitsas “owned and operated Downpipe Depot & Recycling LLC," with locations on Tyrell Drive in Wolcott and Park Avenue in East Hartford.
The company's illegal business consisted of buying stolen catalytic converters from thieves in Connecticut and reselling them to recycling businesses in New York and New Jersey, federal officials said.
Kolitsas could also face a fine up to $500,000. Defense lawyer Martin Minella said after court proceedings ended that the plea agreement also calls for forfeiture of more than $55,000 in cash seized during the investigation, two vehicles: a van and a 2016 Polaris slingshot three-wheeled "autocycle."
Several of Kolitsas’ codefendants in the case had pleaded guilty previously, including Bryant Bermudez, an East Hartford resident described in the indictment as an employee of Downpipe Depot, who began working there in about November 2021.
Bermudez pleaded guilty in April 2023 but has yet to be sentenced. According to his plea agreement, federal sentencing guidelines recommend a prison term between 57 and 71 months, roughly five or six years, but both sides reserved the right to argue for a sentence outside that range.
The superseding indictment describes numerous electronic communications between Kolitsas and others charged in the case, invoices and other evidence detailing purchases of groups of catalytic converters for thousands of dollars and sales of them, mainly to a buyer in Island Park, N.Y., for amounts exceeding $100,000 and sometimes $200,000.
Catalytic converters convert engine exhaust pollutants to carbon dioxide and water vapor through a catalyzed chemical reaction, usually using a precious metal, such as platinum, palladium or rhodium, as the catalyst, the indictment explains.
They have become a target for thieves because they can easily be removed from a vehicle, are difficult to trace and bring average prices between $300 and $1,500 as scrap, the indictment says.
Staff writer Hana Ikramuddin contributed to this story.