Operation “M.C. Hymer”: Road Race Southwest Racer Sentenced To Five Years In Motorcycle Theft Ring Case By Michael Gougis A Road Race Southwest/CCS racer has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a felony charge of operating a chop shop operation that involved “high-end, high-performance sport-racing motorcycles” and other stolen goods worth more than $1 million, authorities said. Steven Ray Hymer, 29, of Avondale, Arizona, was sentenced on January 20, 2010. Hymer, initially charged with 50 counts, had pleaded guilty on November 6, 2009 to a single Class 2 Felony charge of Conducting a Chop Shop, according to Maricopa County court records. According to the website of Road Race Southwest, a CCS affiliate, Hymer finished 18th overall in the club’s 2009 standings. Hymer’s attorney at the Maricopa County Public Defender’s office, Michael Stanford, said it was the department’s policy not to comment on cases it handled. Hymer and his father, 52-year-old Raymond Corey Hymer of Avondale, were arrested in March 2006 after a multi-jurisdictional task force spent seven months investigating allegations that the pair was involved in stealing and reselling motorcycles and parts. At the time, the task force served search warrants on five different locations in Chandler, Phoenix, El Mirage and Avondale. The task force dubbed the investigation “Operation M.C. Hymer,” official records show. According to state Department of Public Safety documents, agents recovered “39 stolen motorcycles and components, four stolen trailers, tools and equipment, computers and documents used for facilitating the criminal operations and a multitude of motorcycles that had the vehicle identification numbers (VIN) ground off. Additional motorcycles were seized with re-stamped false VIN numbers. Most of the stolen motorcycles were high end; high performance sport-racing bikes which in addition to the other seized items had a total value of $1,000,000.00 for the recovered stolen property.” Both Hymers were charged with multiple counts of theft of means, trafficking in stolen property, conspiracy, operating a chop shop, and Steven Hymer was additionally charged with being a prohibited possessor of a firearm, with a shotgun and handgun found in his possession, state records indicate. Raymond Corey Hymer is set to go to trial on the charges pending against him in February, court records show.