NEW ULM — A 42-year-old Hutchinson man, formerly of Sleepy Eye, was convicted of gross misdemeanor receiving stolen property in Brown County District Court Monday.

John Charles Kotten’s sentence was a stay of imposition. A second receiving stolen property charge was dismissed.

Kotten was fined $1,185 and sentenced to 364 days in the Brown County Jail, 361 days stayed for two years probation and credited for three days served. He was ordered to pay $200 restitution.

According to court documents, Kotten pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor receiving stolen property Jan. 29 in Brown County District Court. Kotten admitted there were two stolen vehicles valued from $500 to $1,000 on rural Sleepy Eye property when he was arrested without incident in November 2022.

Kotten was originally charged with two felony courts of receiving stolen property in Brown County District Court.

Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Justin Bauer began running VIN numbers of two junked vehicles on the property that were confirmed stolen in Minneapolis and Blaine.

The indictment charged all four men with conspiracy to transport stolen property interstate. Kotten and a St. Paul man were charged with interstate transportation of stolen property, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and false statements to a financial institution.

The case is part of a federal investigation of stolen catalytic converters that led to the October indictment of Kotten, two St. Paul men and a Minneapolis man accused of participating in a lucrative scheme in which they acquired stolen catalytic converters and transported them across state lines to buyers who paid large sums of money for stolen parts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ seeks the forfeiture of more than $545 million in connection with the case. All told, 21 individuals in five states were arrested and/or charged for their roles in the conspiracy.

Arrests, searches, and seizures took place in Minnesota, California, Wyoming, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, and Virginia. Law enforcement seized millions of dollars in assets including homes, bank accounts, cash, and luxury vehicles.

“This national network of criminals hurt victims across the country. They made hundreds of millions of dollars in the process — on the backs of innocent vehicle owners,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The case is the result of a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, IRS-Criminal Investigations and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Other Minnesota law enforcement agencies assisting the DOJ included police from St. Paul, Blaine, Roseville, Bloomington, Woodbury, Brooklyn Park, Fridley, Mendota Heights, Chaska and Coon Rapids, plus sheriff’s offices in Brown, McLeod, Anoka, and Carver Counties and the Minnesota Commerce Fraud Bureau.

Catalytic converters are emission control devices that contain valuable, precious metals including palladium, platinum, and rhodium in their center.