HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A former Harris County jailer wanted in connection with a fraudulent car theft scheme after allegedly renting a luxury vehicle and then selling it on Facebook Marketplace has been arrested.
Stevie Mosley, 23, is charged with felony fraudulent transfer of a vehicle. She was taken into custody on Tuesday by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at a local bail bond company. On Wednesday, she posted a $10,000 bond.
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Her co-defendant, 24-year-old Andrea Johnson, is still wanted.
Mosley resigned from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in April while under internal affairs investigation for fraternization with an inmate and was later determined to be ineligible for rehire, a spokesperson for HCSO told KPRC 2.
The inmate she was being investigated for closely associating with is Johnson, her now co-defendant, who was in custody at the time for another case, according to a law enforcement source.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office says deputies recovered Mosley’s badge and uniform last week while searching for her. Mosley used her badge and uniform to gain the trust from the victim in this case.
What happened
In late July, a Houston man who owned a Lexus ES 300 listed it with Top Tier Fleet, a local company that rents out luxury vehicles.
Mosley and Johnson rented the vehicle for four days, according to company owner Christopher Orji.
“She didn’t have anything wrong with her records,” Orji said. “Everything really checked out.”
But soon after renting, the vehicle got listed on Facebook Marketplace for sale for $10,000, according to court records, under a profile name of “Amber West,” which appears to be a profile with an AI-generated photo.
“It was a whole fiasco,” Orji said. “This is the first time this has ever happened to me. Like I’ve never had a vehicle get stolen at all."
The women stopped responding to messages, and a tracker on the vehicle went dead, so Orji and his business partner, Obi Ezewudo, tried to hunt it down with little luck and ultimately activated the kill switch.
But a man, who didn’t want to be identified, had already bought the vehicle after inquiring about the Facebook listing and meeting with the women at an apartment complex off Washington Avenue.
Mosley appeared at their first meeting on July 27 wearing a Harris County Sheriff’s Office uniform with an armored vest, called herself law enforcement, and presented a badge, according to records.
It looked like a very good deal ... a little bit too good to be true,” the victim said. “I was raised to trust the cops [and] she kept saying, ‘I’m law enforcement,’ you know, in a uniform.”
HCSO said employees who resign are expected to return their gear, but Mosley had not done so.
After test driving the Lexus and his trust being built up because he thought he was buying from law enforcement, the victim paid a $2,000 deposit via Zelle.
The next day, he told investigators he sent an $8,000 wire transfer to Mosley’s account, but she claimed it didn’t come through and asked for an additional $3,500 so he could get the key fob.
The victim received a bill of sale from Mosley with the name “Amber West” on it and was told that he would receive the title in the mail in the future.
He met them again on a third day about purchasing a Toyota Camry, according to records, and expressed interest in investing in their “auto business.” He also gave them $4,500 more for the Camry.
But days later, after the kill switch had been activated, the victim had the Lexus towed to a dealership on the Katy Freeway.
He learned the vehicle was registered to a different man, who never agreed to sell it when he listed it for rental with Top Tier Fleet.
“It’s ridiculous. I don’t think this is something that anyone should be dealing with,” Orji said.
In total, the victim lost $18,000, according to records, and the owner of the Lexus got his vehicle back.
“To just trick me with some uniform, but it’s like, a real uniform ... I’m ashamed,” the victim said. “They should not let their uniform just be loose out there, their ID, just be loose out there. Who knows what else she’s doing right now with that ID?”