Some people may think of chop shops as big city crime operations run by cigar-smoking mobsters.

But one auto theft investigator says rural chop shops are on the rise, as evidenced by an ongoing federal investigation into a motorcycle theft ring based in Henry County.

Two Henry County men are under indictment and one has already been sentenced to 21 months in prison in connection with the theft of more than 30 sport bikes, court documents show.

Prosecutors say the men were running a motorcycle chop shop, either cannibalizing the bikes for their parts or replacing the vehicle identification numbers, or VINs, and reselling the stolen motorcycles whole.

Tonche Maurice Hodge and Kiass Demetric Stockton, both of Axton, were indicted last month on charges of transporting stolen goods and conspiracy to operate a chop shop and tamper with VINs. Hodge was also charged with obstruction of justice and perjury for allegedly lying to investigators and a federal grand jury.

But court action goes back further than those indictments. Last summer, Floyd Valdez Dillard of Henry County was indicted in the same investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Hogeboom says Dillard actually owned and operated the shop, Street Toys Cycle Works, where the motorcycles were hidden and worked on.

Dillard pleaded guilty in December 2004 to conspiracy to alter a VIN, transporting stolen merchandise and operating a chop shop. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Dillard received credit for helping investigators obtain evidence against others in the case.

According to Hodge's and Stockton's indictment, more than 30 motorcycles, all Honda, Yamaha or Kawasaki brand sport bikes worth at least $5,000 to $10,000 each, were stolen from Blacksburg and Greensboro, N.C., between April 1998 and December 2003.

The indictment says the motorcycles were then hidden at the Martinsville shop, where they were disassembled or altered for resale.

The bikes were resold around Henry and Pittsylvania counties, documents say.

One method for resale involved "cloning" VINs, Hogeboom said.

In this case, Hodge, Stockton and Dillard are accused of grinding the VINs off the stolen bikes and replacing them with the VINs of wrecked or damaged bikes.

Parts taken from a stolen bike are often sold online or to those who know where to look, said Virginia State Police Trooper Agent Mark DeHart with the Help Eliminate Auto Theft program and Roanoke Police Det. J.W. Price.

Prosecutors believe Hodge and Stockton transported stolen bikes using rented trucks.

As agents investigated the theft ring, they questioned Hodge and were told that he bought motorcycles from "someone driving a blue Toyota pickup truck whom he only knew as 'G' " and "from a six foot individual of medium build with a gold crowned tooth who drove a Range Rover," the indictment states.

While testifying under oath in front of a federal grand jury on April 21, 2004, Hodge said he had bought a yellow Honda 600 from a man named "Kenny" who drove a Range Rover with New York plates, documents show.

Hodge is being charged with obstruction of justice and perjury because prosecutors believe those were all lies.

Hodge is now out on bond pending trial, while Stockton has been shipped to Texas to face an unrelated vehicular homicide charge, Hogeboom said. He believes federal authorities may make an agreement with Texas to transport Stockton back and forth for hearings.

While Price said there has never been a confirmed chop shop in Roanoke, DeHart said chop shops are not unheard of in Southwest Virginia. A motorcycle chop shop is rarer than one for cars.

Most vehicle thefts in Southwest Virginia are done by juveniles looking for a joy ride or drug money, DeHart said, but it is harder to recover a professionally stolen vehicle.

And motorcycle thefts are on the rise across Virginia, with smaller, lighter bikes the biggest target, according to DeHart.

"I think part of it is the Japanese sport bikes are very popular with young adults," DeHart said.

"They are much lighter and a couple of guys can pick those bikes up and put them in a truck or a van and take off with them."