Twenty-five-year-old David Nava-Delgado has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his leadership role in a massive theft operation that primarily targeted vehicles at Denver International Airport.
Brian Mason, the District Attorney for Colorado’s 17th Judicial, announced the sentence in a press release Thursday. Nava-Delgado pleaded guilty on Oct. 14 to two charges of aggravated vehicle theft and one Colorado Organized Crimes Act charge.
The thefts took place between February 2022 and March 2023 in Adams County and across the Denver metro. Mason’s office announced Nava-Delgado and 12 collaborators as the subjects of a 121-count indictment on Oct. 23, 2023, saying the 13 defendants used some of the stolen vehicles to smash through the fronts of businesses and steal ATMs.
Nava-Delgado acted as a ringleader for the crimes, authorities said. He was identified after he crashed a stolen Ford F150 in Thornton in September 2022 and fled the scene. Investigators found his DNA on the airbag along with a pair of handguns and several blank keys left inside the truck. They eventually tied him to several other stolen vehicles, including one that led police on a high-speed chase.
Mason’s office said Nava-Delgado and his group reprogrammed key fobs to break into vehicles, then disabled the GPS systems to prevent the stolen vehicles from being tracked. Over the course of a year, the crew allegedly stole 59 vehicles and attempted or completed 31 burglaries.
“When Colorado saw a massive increase in motor vehicle thefts, we set out to curb the spike – and we’ve succeeded,” Mason said Wednesday in the release. “I’m proud of the work of my team and law enforcement who not only indicted 13 individuals for terrorizing innocent passengers at DIA but prosecuted and convicted those same defendants who have caused so much pain throughout our jurisdiction.”
According to data from the Colorado Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force, there has been a 28 percent reduction in motor vehicle thefts statewide from 2023 to 2024. There has also been a 30 percent decrease in the Denver metro year-over-year and a 55 percent decrease at Denver International Airport.
