The Monroe County Auto Theft Taskforce (MATT), acting on the complaint issued by the Attorney General’s newly created Auto Unit, arrested Randell Lee McDaniel in Monroe County Tuesday evening.  McDaniel is known to be a high-ranking member of the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club and has a prior felony conviction for Receiving and Concealing Stolen Property with a value greater than $20,000.

This investigation began in October 2006 when MATT officers served several search warrants on properties owned by McDaniel.  Based on items recovered in those searches, McDaniel has been charged with:

- One count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, which carries a maximum penalty of 20-years imprisonment and/or a $100,000 fine;
- One count of Operating a Chop Shop, which carries a penalty of 10 years and/or $250,000 fine;
- Six counts of Receiving and Concealing a Stolen Motor Vehicle, which carries a penalty of five-years and/or a $10,000 fine;
- Eight counts of Receiving and Concealing Stolen Property $1,000 or more but less than $20,000, which carries a penalty of five-years and/or a $10,000 fine;
- Seventeen counts of Buying or Receiving a Vehicle Part with Identification Removed or Altered, which carries a penalty of 10-years and/or a $20,000 fine; and
- Two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Schedules three and four, which carries a penalty of two-years and/or a $2,000 fine.  

McDaniel is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, June 13, 2007, at the 1st District Court, Monroe, Michigan. 

"I want to thank the Monroe County Auto Theft Taskforce for their hard work in helping to solve this case," said Cox.

The Michigan Attorney General's Auto Theft Unit is funded by grants from the Michigan Auto Theft Prevention Authority (ATPA) and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.