Frankfort Man Pleads Guilty to Transporting a Stolen Vehicle Across State Lines

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Kentucky
January 19, 2010

FRANKFORT, KY—A Frankfort, Ky. man admitted in federal court today that he stole a car to help transport him and his infant child to Mexico. Miles Thomas Woodside, 30, pleaded guilty to transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines.

Woodside admitted that in February 2007, he stole his grandfather’s vehicle and drove his 2-year-old daughter to Tennessee, where he bought bus tickets to El Paso, Texas.

According to the plea agreement, a local FBI investigation revealed that a telephone call to Woodside’s mother was traced back to a telephone number in Monterrey, Mexico.

Police in Monterrey were notified and spotted Woodside with his daughter on the street and arrested him.

The plea agreement stated that on February 27, 2009, Woodside was visiting with his daughter and was required to return her to his ex-girlfriend that evening based on a court order from the Franklin County Family Court.

Woodside admitted that he and the child first traveled to Alabama to see friends before driving to Tennessee, where he abandoned the vehicle and took a cab to a Tennessee bus station.

James A. Zerhusen, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Timothy D. Cox, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Walter Wilhoite, Frankfort Police Chief; Freeman Cooper, Chattanooga, Tenn. Police Chief; Ron Ogletree, Ft. Payne, Ala. Police Chief; and Nuevo Leon State Police, Monterrey, Mexico jointly made the announcement today and conducted the investigation.

Woodside will be sentenced on April 20 at 9:30 a.m. He faces a maximum prison term of 10 years. However, any sentence imposed by the court would come after consideration of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of sentences.