AVILLA, IN – An Avilla man Who was once involved in dealing in recreational vehicles has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for a string of RV thefts.

The perpetrators would reportedly scope out travel trailers at multiple other business, steal them and then replace the vehicle identification numbers. They would then rebrand the trailers and sell them to innocent third-party purchasers who were none the wiser. That scheme came to an end when Michigan State Police found 17 of those stolen trailers in 2018.

A U.S. District Court judge sentenced 43-year-old Adam N. Bock to 30 months in prison Wednesday and ordered him to pay more than $250,000 in restitution. Court documents say Bock previously pleaded guilty to removing, obliterating tampering or altering a vehicle identification number of a motor vehicle. He had been accused of working with an accomplice to steal 25 travel trailers from businesses in Indiana and Michigan.

The pair would rebrand the trailers in Bock’s company name – Stone River – before selling them.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Indiana State Police along with assistance from the Michigan State Police, the LaGrange County Sheriff’s Office and the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office.