Rochester Men Plead Guilty To Receipt Of Stolen Goods

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Igor Kasap, 34, and Arkadiy Kasap, 29, both of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty to possession of stolen goods before U.S. District Court Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The charge is punishable by 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who is handling the case, stated that the defendants operated a shipping company located at 500 Trolley Boulevard in Rochester. The shipping company operated under various names, one of which was A.S.A.P. Trans, Inc.

In September, 2011, A.S.A.P. Trans was involved in shipping 16 pallets of synthetic jet engine oil from an Exxon-Mobil plant in Edison, New Jersey to a facility in Portland, Oregon. Each pallet contained 40 cases of oil and was valued at $14,000 per pallet. While in transit from New Jersey to Oregon, one of the pallets was stolen and diverted to the defendant’s Trolley Boulevard warehouse.

The defendants advertised the pallet of stolen oil using eBay in an attempt to sell it. However, investigators saw the online posting and set up an undercover operation during which they recovered the stolen oil from the defendants.
   
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of James V.  Buthorn, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division, and Officers and Investigators of the Gates Police Department, under the direction of Chief James VanBrederode.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 6, 2016, before Judge Siragusa.