A federal grand jury in the Western District of Tennessee has returned two indictments charging three men in separate cargo theft cases with combined alleged losses of nearly $600,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Sept. 21, 2026. Aubrey Brown, 53, and Kemptrell Daniels, 24, are charged with receiving or possessing stolen interstate freight, including Arista computer networking switches, in July and August 2024; Brown is also accused of transporting the switches from Tennessee to California, Georgia and Texas. In the second case, Pierre Smith, 32, faces four counts of possessing goods stolen from CSX rail shipments of televisions and tires moving among California, Georgia and Tennessee between March and August 2024.
According to prosecutors, the FBI Memphis Cargo Theft Task Force, Memphis Police Department, CSX Police and FedEx Security took part in the investigations. Each count carries up to 10 years in prison. The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The cases show that theft exposure extends to rail intermodal freight and to the downstream receipt and movement of stolen goods across state lines.
Sources
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Tennessee: Federal Grand Jury Returns Two Indictments in Interstate Cargo Theft Cases Totaling Nearly $600,000 in Losses (Sept. 21, 2026)
FreightWaves: Federal indictments target nearly $600K in interstate cargo theft tied to Memphis (Sept. 23, 2026)
