Alan and Andrew Pawelsky charged with trafficking stolen catalytic converters
Catalytic converters alleged to have been stolen are displayed at Nassau County police headquarters in Mineola on Jan. 30. Credit: James Carbone
The Nassau County district attorney charged two Long Beach brothers in an 81-count indictment Friday of trafficking stolen catalytic converters after one of them sued to recover their Island Park scrapyard business.
Alan Pawelsky, 28, and Andrew Pawelsky, 25, were indicted by a Nassau County grand jury on charges including money laundering, criminal possession of stolen property and conspiracy for allegedly acquiring stolen catalytic converters that they sold to a refinery for $170 million to process precious metals.
The brothers are accused of paying cash for catalytic converters stolen from California, Connecticut, Minnesota and New York from June 2021 to December 2022 and using their Island Park shop, Ace Auto Recycling, to strip converters of precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium.
Prosecutors also charged Jovanie Clarke, 29, of Flushing, Queens, with grand larceny, possession of stolen property and auto stripping. He is accused of selling stolen catalytic converters to Andrew Pawelsky several times.
“These defendants allegedly purchased truckloads of catalytic converters, many of them stolen from across the country, and siphoned them of precious metals that have seen skyrocketing value in recent years. The metals were allegedly sent to refineries and weighed, netting the defendants more than $170 million,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement.
Lawrence Carra, who represents Andrew Pawelsky, said Friday evening that the accusations were unfounded.
“The district attorney disclosed this was the culmination of an 18-month investigation. However, when one looks at the indictment, there is a lack of any cogent or applicable evidence,” Carra said. “These are two brothers who built a successful business and the district attorney’s evidence doesn’t address the charges against them."
The indictment comes two weeks after Alan Pawelsky and his company filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, along with the district attorney and police department, claiming $7.5 million in assets were wrongfully seized in a police raid.
Police seized equipment, including catalytic converters, in December, noting it culminated in a yearlong investigation into catalytic converter thefts.
A civil attorney for Alan Pawelsky, J.R. Stevenson, sent a letter to the judge Friday concerned about the timing of the arrest ahead of a court hearing in the civil case Monday.
“The Nassau County defendants’ decision to arrest plaintiff Pawelsky today is obviously strategic gamesmanship designed to alter the landscape and affect this court’s decision,” Stevenson said in the letter.
He declined to comment on the case Saturday.
The Pawelskys surrendered to Nassau County authorities Friday in Mineola. They pleaded not guilty during their arraignment and bail was set at $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond. They are due back in court June 1. If convicted of the top charge, they face up to 25 years in prison.
Clarke pleaded not guilty and faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
CORRECTION
A previous version of the story incorrectly characterized attorney J.R. Stevenson’s letter to the judge.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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