Four Southeast Missouri men arrested in Scott County for suspected ties to multi-state theft ring

Scott County officers have arrested four Southeast Missouri men in connection with a suspected larceny ring spanning local, state and federal jurisdictions, nine states, and involving hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions, of dollars.

Larry Dixon, Brian Lambert, Brian Burton and Greg Casey are all charged with conspiracy to commit auto theft, Sheriff Rick Walter said Wednesday.

Bond for Casey has been set at $1 million and at $750,000 for the other three. All of the men are currently held in the Scott County Jail, but may be extradited to DeKalb County, Ill., the suspected base of the ring, to face potential related charges, Walter said.

The investigation began in January, when a search of two storage facilities in DeKalb County led to the recovery of suspected stolen items. Shortly thereafter, Mark Wright was arrested in DeKalb County and charged for his part in the ring. According to the Daily Chronicle newspaper in DeKalb County, Wright faces 23 felonies and is being held on a $2 million bond.

A search warrant was issued for Wright's property, a lavish, three story log cabin, and about $500,000 worth of stolen goods, including cars, boats, trailers, tools, even deep sea fishing equipment, were recovered. In addition, counterfeit bills were discovered at the residence, getting officials from the United States Secret Service involved in the case, Walter said.

To date, eight people have been arrested in connection with the larceny ring, including Wright's mother, Sandra Seabright, Scott County investigator Gregg Ourth said.

"There are a lot of jurisdictions looking at this," Walter said.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol, New Madrid County Sheriff's Department, Mississippi County Sheriff's Department, Sikeston Department of Public Safety, Stoddard County Sheriff's Department, DeKalb County Sheriff's department and Internal Revenue Service have all assisted with the investigation.

The suspects are accused of selling stolen goods via an eBay scam, and so far victims in Iowa, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, California and Mississippi have been identified, but the tentacles of the ring may extend even further across the country, making it impossible to determine a total number of victims or even estimated worth of stolen goods, Walter said.

"We still don't know how far this investigation is gonna go," he said.