MORRISTOWN, NJ (Morris County) – A 20-year-old Newark man was sentenced to four years in prison for auto theft in Morris County, according to Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll.
On August 15, 2021, the Mountain Lakes Police Department responded to a residence for a report of a 2017 black Maserati Ghibli. The vehicle was then recovered later that morning in Newark, Carroll said.
A subsequent investigation identified Raymond Branch as a suspect. Cellular telephone records, provided by Essex County authorities, were analyzed by Mountain Lakes Police and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Intelligence Unit, Carroll said.
The examination revealed that Branch used real estate and mapping applications on his cellular phone in the area of the theft in Mountain Lakes on the morning of August 15, 2021, Carroll said.
Members of the Morris County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) section forensically processed the Maserati, which resulted in the recovery of a latent fingerprint from the interior of the front driver door window that matched Branch, Carroll said.
Branch was arrested on April 5, 2022, and detained pending trial. On August 2, 2022, Branch entered a plea of guilt to third-degree theft of a motor vehicle, Carroll said.
On Feb. 24, the Honorable Noah Franzblau sentenced Branch to four years in prison for the theft conviction, Carroll said.
