Man pleads guilty after 35 catalytic converters stolen across northern Illinois

A Cook County man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison Tuesday in connection with dozens of catalytic converters reported stolen between 2021 and 2022 in DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties, authorities said.

Octavio Goytia, 29, of Cook County, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempted aggravated possession of a motor vehicle, according to a news release from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. In exchange for the plea, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Margaret M. O’Connell sentenced Goytia on Tuesday to prison and ordered him to pay $311,500 in restitution.

“While a vehicle can still operate without a catalytic converter, its removal means the vehicle releases toxic gases and pollutants into the air while running,” Raoul said in the release. “This outcome was the result of close collaboration by my office with several state’s attorneys and law enforcement agencies across eight Chicagoland counties. I remain committed to these partnerships that are helping us make our communities more safe.”

Goytia is the second person to be convicted in a string of catalytic converter thefts, according to Raoul’s office.

After a two-year investigation, Goytia was charged in the theft of 35 catalytic converters from privately owned vehicles in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will, DeKalb, Lake, McHenry and Winnebago counties from August 2021 through March 2022, according to Raoul’s office. Authorities alleged that Goytia, along with Pedro Villegas-Mendoza, 24, of Aurora, stole catalytic converters in broad daylight by jacking up vehicles and using a saw to remove the converters. Villegas-Mendoza was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty in August 2024, according to the release.

A catalytic converter is a bulbous piece of metal from a vehicle’s exhaust system that filters fumes and reduces harmful car emissions. It uses elements of platinum, palladium and rhodium metals, which can be sold for profit.

Raoul’s office worked with several state’s attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies, including the Carol Stream and Wood Dale police departments in DuPage County, which led a multicounty investigation after area residents reported the thefts. The Aurora and Schaumburg police departments and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office also assisted with the investigation.

Deputy Chief John Brassil prosecuted the case for Raoul’s Special Prosecutions Bureau.