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A Nashville man is under federal criminal investigation for allegedly operating a "chop shop" from a Sylvan Park home as part of a multi-state vehicle theft ring.

As first reported by WSMV, the Circle Hill home of Robert Clinton Thomas, who was born in 1978 but whose exact age was not released, was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Sept. 6.

Unsealed court documents filed in the Eastern District of Michigan reveal that 45-year-old Thomas is suspected of transportation of stolen vehicles, sale or receipt of stolen vehicles, and wire fraud.

In 2019, Thomas entered a no contest plea on identity theft charges in Wisconsin and was sentenced to more than a year in prison.

Those documents detail that Thomas became a suspect in a nationwide auto theft ring centered in Michigan and Ohio after a man named Ronnie Smith was arrested in April.

A law enforcement search of Smith's cell phone revealed text messages from March-April 2023 that the FBI said included "several instances" of Thomas sending Smith "fraudulent identifications, plates, titles and VINs so that stolen cars can be concealed, transported, and sold."

Some of those incriminating text messages were included in the affidavit, which further revealed that some of the fraudulent VIN numbers had been shipped to the United States from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Those text messages also included the name of another Tennessee man who was arrested in April by Brentwood Police when that department raided a home and "seized drugs, guns (including one stolen firearm), cars and nine counterfeit Vehicle Identification Numbers along with what appeared to be counterfeit temporary registration plates and other assorted documents."

The FBI said that Thomas is the reported owner of Elite Auto Partners, a Nashville company they said has no business license or records.

Brentwood Police surveilled the Nashville home and "observed several suspects charged and/or suspected of being involved in stealing motor vehicles arrive and depart from the residence," in "high end motor vehicles" and interacting with Thomas.

On Sept. 6, the FBI raided the home where they confiscated fraudulent driver licenses, vehicle titles, manufacturer stickers, vehicle identification numbers, license plates, printers, heat sealers and stickers, blank vehicle registration applications, and key fobs, which law enforcement believe were created at the home that they called a "vehicle chop shop."

They also seized "window stickers corresponding to stolen vehicles, $2,700.00 in cash, and a Mercedes G63 Wagon and a Dodge Charger, which were both reported out stolen out of stolen out of California and Arizona, respectively.

During the raid, another unidentified man pulled up to the home in a Ford Bronco that was reported stolen out of Wisconsin, a vehicle that he told police had been lent to him by Thomas.

No further information about the case has been made public at this time.