By Naeisha Rose
Aziz Salaam, a South Road Jamaica resident, was sentenced to join two co-conspirators in jail last week for selling stolen Econoline vans, Ford’s E-Series of cargo vans, the Queens district attorney said.
The criminal complaint filed by the DA’s office said that in order to feed his drug habit, Salaam sold stolen vans to a scrap yard in Ozone Park and falsified documents to do it.
“This defendant, who purportedly had a drug problem, supported his habit at the expense of the rightful owners of the stolen Econoline vans,” said Brown.
On June 17, 2016 Salaam submitted a falsified MV35 form, a document that would designate him as a vehicle collector, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
On five separate occasions from June 17, 2016 to June 27, 2016 he brought in a total of five Econoline vans that were stolen to the Ozone Park scrap yard, according to Brown.
This led to Salaam being charged with five counts of falsifying business records, criminal possession of a stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle, the DA said.
He committed two of the crimes with Keith Royster and Steven Fields, both of Jamaica.
Both men pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of stolen property in August of 2017 and have been sentenced to a year in jail.
Salaam was sentenced to up to four years in prison after being convicted in a jury trial, the DA’s office said.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
