Hazelwood Resident Sentenced to Four Years in Prison and Ordered to Pay $550,000 in Restitution for Role in Rental Car Fraud Scheme

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court on June 17, 2026, to 48 months of incarceration, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $550,000 in restitution on his conviction of violating federal identity theft laws, United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

United States District Judge Marilyn J. Horan imposed the sentence on Theodore Brown, 32, of the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

According to information presented to the Court, from in and around October 2022 to in and around February 2023, Brown and other conspirators used personal identification information and credit card numbers of individuals that the conspirators had purchased through the dark web to rent vehicles from a rental car company. An employee of the rental car company was also part of the conspiracy. The conspirators then rented the vehicles to others in the community, many of whom were involved in drug trafficking and other illegal conduct. The total loss to the rental car company was more than $800,000.

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan T. Conway prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Rivetti commended the United States Secret Service and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Brown.