Member of Oregon’s Catalytic Converter Theft Scheme Agrees to Testify Against Ringleaders

Two men pleaded guilty today to charges related to their involvement in the catalytic converter trafficking ring that shipped millions of dollars’ worth of the stolen car parts to East Coast purchasers.

Related: From Portland to Jersey: Inside the Crime Ring That Shipped Thousands of Oregon’s Stolen Catalytic Converters Across the Country.

Daniy Tyshkevich, 34, and Benjamin Jamison, 33, both pleaded guilty in a Washington County courtroom to multiple charges of aggravated theft this morning. They were each sentenced to 80 hours of community service and several years of probation. Tyshkevich also agreed to testify against the scheme’s alleged ringleaders, Tanner Hellbusch and Brennan Doyle.

Doyle, who appeared in court today along with nearly a dozen other defendants, ran the ring from a rental home on the shores of Lake Oswego until it was raided by police last August, prosecutors allege. His and Hellbusch’s trial is scheduled for late next year.

The two men who pleaded guilty today will spend no time in prison. Jamison got off lightly because he was not closely involved in the scheme, prosecutor David Pitcher explained. Doyle was paying him only a few thousand dollars a month to package the car parts for shipment east, prosecutors allege.

Tyshkevich, who was caught dropping off truckloads of catalytic converters at Doyle’s Aurora warehouse, struck a deal. He’s promised to testify against Hellbusch and Doyle at next year’s trial.

Besides pleading guilty, Tyshkevich spoke little this morning. But his court-appointed defense attorney said his error was one of omission. “A lot of this comes down to my client wasn’t checking a whole lot of records,” Colette Cameron said. The implication: that Tyshkevich was a middle man and didn’t find out where the catalytic converters came from. Judge Brandon Thompson sentenced him to three years of probation, which could be waived following his testimony.

Jamison was also largely mum. “In retrospect, of course, huge alarm bells should have been gone off,” his attorney told the judge prior to sentencing. He’ll face two years of probation.

The trial of Doyle and Hellbusch, if it happens, is expected to take at least a month. Both men face decades in prison if convicted. And the amount of evidence in what Judge Thompson called this morning an “incredibly complicated” case is voluminous. As WW documented last year, detectives tapped multiple phones and seized computers and phones during the August raids.

The rest of the alleged co-conspirators face far fewer charges and will likely accept plea deals. Several, including Corvallis DJ Robert Yelas, have plea hearings scheduled next month.

Related: The Latest Suspect in Oregon’s Catalytic Converter Trafficking? A Former OSU Honor Student Turned DJ.