A federal jury in New Haven on Thursday found two Norwich residents guilty of fraud and conspiracy in connection with staging numerous car accidents in an attempt to defraud auto insurance companies.

Mackenzy Noze, 32, and Jonas Joseph, 33, both of Norwich, went before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in a trial that began June 5. Deirdre M. Daly, U. S. attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Patricia M. Ferrick, special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced the verdicts Thursday.

According to evidence presented during the trial, between April 2011 and February 2014, Noze, Joseph and others conspired to stage approximately 50 car crashes in eastern Connecticut for the purpose of defrauding automobile insurance companies and enriching themselves. A high percentage of these planned crashes were single-vehicle accidents on remote roads where there were no witnesses other than the occupants of the crashed vehicle.

After each staged accident, the defendants filed fraudulent property damage and bodily injury claims with various automobile insurance companies. They then collected payouts on the fraudulent claims from the victim insurance companies. These payouts typically ranged from approximately $10,000 to $30,000 per accident.

The jury found Noze and Joseph guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, Noze guilty of eight counts of mail or wire fraud, and Joseph guilty of five counts of mail or wire fraud. The charges carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count.

Noze is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 1 and Joseph on Sept. 5.

After the verdict, Judge Meyer ordered Noze, who is a citizen of Haiti and lawful permanent resident of the United States, detained pending sentencing. Joseph was released on a $10,000 bond.

Five other individuals charged as a result of this investigation have pleaded guilty and await sentencing, a news release announcing the verdicts said.

The incidents were investigated by the FBI, Norwich police and the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Avi Perry and Michael J. Gustafson.