ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis woman admitted to running a chop shop over the last few years, holding onto stolen vehicles with the intention of disassembling them and selling parts.

Heather Marty, 28, pled guilty to felony charges in federal court Monday. Marty used a warehouse in north St. Louis to house, store and disassemble stolen vehicles, according to her plea.

From Oct. 2021 to July 2022, St. Louis officers and detectives found a total of 12 stolen vehicles in or near the building. That included three motorcycles, five pickup trucks, three cars and one SUV, per the plea agreement.

In January 2022, authorities spotted Marty at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis in a reported stolen truck, leading to her arrest. Inside the truck, a detective found nine license plates, two of which belonged to stolen vehicles. 

An investigation revealed that in the week before her arrest, Marty had been in the area of four thefts and one attempted theft of catalytic converters, as well as four burglaries and an auto theft.

Since then, Marty pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of a stolen vehicle and one count of operating a chop shop. Marty faces up to 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. She will also be ordered to pay restitution to victims.