CHICAGO — When Chicago police arrested two men and seized 211 catalytic converters last year, prosecutors said it was the culmination of a nearly year-long investigation. Now, one of those men has pleaded guilty to playing a role in the crime. His sentence? Probation.
Cops had a search warrant in hand for a storage unit in the 4500 block of West North Avenue when Marzel Woodard, called the “ringleader” of the operation, arrived at the storage facility with Vincent Parks on June 30, 2023, officials said
The undercover officers watched as Woodard and Parks started to unload catalytic converters from a vehicle into the unit, prosecutors said. They tried to run away when the cops moved in but didn’t get far.
Police allegedly found five severed catalytic converters inside Woodard’s vehicle. Officials claimed that another 206 converters were found in Woodard’s storage unit as they executed the warrant.
Woodard had been under investigation since August 2022. Police have seen him handling, possessing, storing, and selling “large numbers” of catalytic converters since then, prosecutors said. Parks, they claimed, had been handling and transporting converters with Woodard for about a week.
On Wednesday, Parks pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of three or more stolen auto parts in exchange for two years of probation from Judge Tyria Walton, court records show.
Woodard, who faces a similar charge plus a more serious count of organizing an aggravated vehicular theft conspiracy, continues to fight the allegations. He’s due in court again on December 18.
