Man accused of selling counterfeit microchips had a passion for drag racing

Shannon Wren has a taste for fast and fancy cars.

In his youth, he and other late-night thrill seekers liked to block off the Gandy Bridge and race across the bay. Two years ago, he made drag racing history in his green Mustang by hitting 200 mph without crashing.

And earlier this week, when federal agents descended on his mid-Pinellas computer components company, they confiscated a Ferrari, a Mercedes and a Bentley. Wren, 42, was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Washington on charges that he sold $16 million worth of counterfeit computer chips to the U.S. Navy and some of its weapons contractors.