A Chittenden County man, who made international news when he stole five Teslas was sentenced in federal court

A Chittenden County man, who made international news when he stole five Teslas valued at over $600,000 in 2018 and 2019, was sentenced in federal court in Rutland on Wednesday to 44 months in prison. Michael A. Gonzalez, 34, fraudulently obtained the five Teslas valued at about $607,000 from car dealerships in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Florida and had them brought across state lines to Vermont in 2018 and 2019. One Tesla was destroyed during a suspicious fire after he drove it onto a frozen portion of Lake Champlain in February 2019. The U.S. Secret Service has said Gonzalez torched the luxury car when he was unable to sell it.