ONLY ONLINE: Five plead guilty to running chop shop in Corbin

One of the six defendants who were scheduled to plead guilty Monday to federal charges of operating a "chop shop" in Corbin, asked for additional time to review the plea agreement with his new attorney.

The defendants, H.C. McDaries, Ricky L. McDaries, Sam C. Gilbert, Robyn King, Larry B. Neal and Bennie Lee King, were to be in U.S. District Court in London Monday to be rearraigned on charges that they organized and operated the chop shop between Aug. 1, 2008 and May 14, 2009 out of a barn on a farm in the Laurel County portion of Corbin.

Kyle Edelen, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said at Bennie King’s hearing, Judge Amul Thapar granted a motion by King’s attorney, Andrew Stephens, to allow additional time to review the agreement.

"He (King) has a new attorney and wants to talk it over with him," Edelen said. "There is no time frame for when a decision will be made as to what they want to do. The case may go to trial."

Edelen said each defendant faces up to five years in prison. Under the federal system, when a defendant accepts a plea agreement, it contains a recommended sentence. However, the judge is not bound by that recommendation. In addition, the defendant is informed prior to entering the plea, that if the judge hands down a sentence beyond the recommended sentence, the defendant may not use that as grounds to withdraw the guilty plea.

The five who pleaded guilty will be formally sentenced on Dec. 13.

According to the indictment, in Aug. 2008, Gilbert was approached by an unnamed indictee about using a barn behind his house in the Laurel County portion of Corbin for use as a chop shop for stolen vehicles. Gilbert agreed and the men enlarged the barn to use it as a garage.

After work to the barn was complete, H.C. and Ricky McDaries, along with others, began using the facility to store stolen passenger vehicles and dismantle and reassemble them. They also concealed the identity of stolen vehicles, presumably by altering or obscuring the Vehicle Identification Numbers.

On April 30, 2009, the indictment alleges that Gilbert arranged for the purchase of a cab from a stolen 2005 Peterbilt truck from H.C. and Ricky McDaries. In May, Ricky McDaries got the cab from Neal, and he and H.C. McDaries delivered it to Gilbert at his garage.

On May 4, 2009 an unnamed indictee delivered a 2007 Peterbilt tractor truck to Gilbert and seven days later, delivered a stolen 2001 Peterbilt tractor truck to Gilbert again.

A day later, the indictment alleges that H.C. and Ricky McDaries delivered the hood from the same stolen 2005 Peterbilt to Gilbert.