Miami men plead guilty to exporting hundreds of stolen outboard motors

MIAMI, Fla. – Two Miami men have pleaded guilty to exporting stolen outboard motors to Mexico.

Carlos Orlando Ledesma, 57, and Nadia Esperanza Ledesma, 46, each have pled guilty to conspiring to export nearly 600 stolen outboard engines to Mexico through a Miami-based freight forwarding company, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

Previously, on February 22, co-defendants Roberto Marrero-Cisneros, 65, from Miami, and Osmani Valdivia Perez, 55, from Lehigh Acres, also pled guilty to the same conspiracy charge, said the USAO.

Nadia Ledesma is the president of Netcycle Trading Corp., a freight forwarding company in Miami, and Carlos Ledesma is the warehouse manager.

According to court documents, from 2015 to 2018, Carlos and Nadia Ledesma received almost 600 stolen outboard engines for export to Mexico. Dozens of individuals delivered the stolen engines. Reportedly, the engines had visible damage from the thefts, and cables and lines had been cut rather than properly detached.

The individuals delivered the stolen engines in non-commercial vehicles without bills of sale or any other documentation for the engines, said the USAO.

According to court documents, Marrero-Cisneros created false serial number stickers to place on the stolen outboard engines. Nadia and Carlos Ledesma, their co-conspirators, reportedly created false bills of sale and submitted false export information to the United States.

Many of the stolen engines were directed to Tomas Vale Valdivia, a co-conspirator who was then in Mexico, the USAO said. Later, on January 28, 2020, Vale Valdivia was sentenced to 57 months for alien smuggling in a separate case before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams.

Vale Valdivia is said to be the nephew of defendant Osmani Valdivia Perez.

“Valdivia Perez made many cash payments to co-conspirators in this case, on behalf of Vale Valdivia. The cash payments included payments to Netcycle for the fees for exporting the stolen outboard engines, payments to Marrero-Cisneros for the false serial numbers, and payments to the individuals who stole the outboard engines,” said the USAO in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. set the sentencing hearings for Marrero-Cisneros and Valdivia Perez for May 8 and the sentencing hearings for Carlos and Nadia Ledesma for May 23.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, acting Special Agent in Charge Michael E. Buckley, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami, and Special Agent in Charge Zinnia P. James, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), Southeast Region, announced the guilty pleas.

HSI Miami and CGIS investigated the case with assistance from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ana Maria Martinez is prosecuting the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Daren Grove is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 22-cr-20269.