A 29-year-old Aurora man has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $31,500 in restitution for removing catalytic converters from more than 35 privately-owned vehicles across northern Illinois in 2021 and 2022. The announcement came today from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
The Attorney General’s office prosecuted Octavio Goytia who was sentenced today by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Margaret M. O’Connell after pleading guilty to a Class 2 felony of attempted aggravated possession of a motor vehicle.
“While a vehicle can still operate without a catalytic converter, its removal means the vehicle releases toxic gases and pollutants into the air while running,” Raoul said. “This outcome was the result of close collaboration by my office with several state’s attorneys and law enforcement agencies across eight Chicagoland counties. I remain committed to these partnerships that are helping us make our communities more safe.”
Following a two-year investigation, Raoul’s office charged Goytia for stealing catalytic converters from vehicles in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will, DeKalb, Lake, McHenry and Winnebago counties from August 2021 through March 2022. Investigators determined that Goytia, along with Pedro Villegas-Mendoza, 24, of Aurora, stole catalytic converters in broad daylight by jacking up vehicles and using a saw to remove the converters. Villegas-Mendoza was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty in August 2024.
A catalytic converter is a bulbous piece of metal from a vehicle’s exhaust system that filters fumes and reduces harmful car emissions. It uses elements of platinum, palladium and rhodium metals, which can be sold for profit.
