Story by Ethan
On August 19th, 2025, the arrest of Justin Vargas, age 33, was announced by Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark. Justin Vargas was charged with second-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, second-degree Grand Larceny, four counts of third-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, six counts of third-degree Grand Larceny, six counts of second-degree Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, six counts of first-degree Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, six counts of fourth-degree Criminal Possession of Stolen Property, first-degree Scheme to Defraud, two counts of second-degree Scheme to Defraud, and four counts of third-degree Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle. The arrest and charges against Justin Vargas were a result of an investigation handled by Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Doty of Trial Bureau 50 and Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Rozenblum of the Trial Division, under the supervision of Jessica Deanna-Lupo, a Deputy Chief in the Trial Division, under the overall supervision of James Brennan, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division, Theresa Gottlieb, Chief of the Trial Division, Trial Preparation Supervisor Greg Gentry, Trial Preparation Assistant Sebastian Mercado-Diaz, both of the Trial Division, and BXDA Senior Detective Investigator Brendan Sullivan, NYPD Detective Kevin Falconer of the Auto Crime Division.
According to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, between the dates of July 1st and September 14th of 2024, Justin Vargas had allegedly stolen six vehicles within the Bronx area. Allegedly Justin Vargas had advertised and listed both Honda CR-Vs and Acura TLXs on Facebook Marketplace. Justin Vargas had intentionally leeched off more vulnerable buyers, encouraging them to invest tens of thousands of dollars and even take out loans for the vehicles. During hand-offs, Justin Vargas allegedly had the stolen vehicles’ VINs (vehicle identification numbers) replaced with another VIN from a different legal vehicle, and he then would “wash” the stolen car titles using new information to match the new VINs. The victims would find out their cars were stolen after taking them to the local DMV to register them. Justin Vargas had sold the cars for $16,000 each, one of the buyers having bought the car to be able to drive between school and work in order to take care of her mother suffering from heart failure. Another victim had used up all her life savings to purchase one of the stolen cars in order to have transportation for work and her children. The scheme allegedly had made $81,000 in cash through sales, while possessing approximately $164,625 in stolen cars.
The Bronx District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Justin Vargas are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
