Man Admits Illegally Selling Mercedes Borrowed From Toms River Man

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Monmouth County man has pleaded guilty to motor vehicle theft, after he sold a Mercedes he had borrowed to someone in Georgia, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.

Jaquel Accoo, 29, of Wall, pleaded guilty to motor vehicle theft and witness tampering before Superior Court Judge David M. Fritch in the theft that happened in October 2023 in Toms River, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

A Toms River resident reported the theft of the Mercedes to Toms River police on Oct. 14, 2023, Billhimer said.

Authorities learned Accoo had borrowed the Mercedes from the owner but had not returned it to the owner in a timely manner. Investigators then learned Accoo had sold the Mercedes to someone in Georgia.

Accoo was charged with theft of the vehicle on Nov. 22, 2023, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested Jan. 22, 2024 in Red Bank by the New York/New Jersey United States Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Warrants Division.

Accoo was taken to the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing; Accoo was subsequently released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform.

The witness tampering charge was the result of detectives from the prosecutor’s office learning Accoo attempted to bribe another individual in an effort to have that individual give a false statement to law enforcement in the investigation.

Accoo is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 3, at which time the state will be seeking a term of five years in prison on the motor vehicle theft charge and five years on the witness tampering, with the sentences to run concurrently, authorities said.