Seven California men charged in largest jewelry heist in U.S. history, prosecutors say
Seven Southern California men were charged in connection with what federal prosecutors described Tuesday as the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history.
The defendants, all of whom are from the Los Angeles area, allegedly stole roughly $100 million in gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches from an armored car in July 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for California’s Central District.
They were indicted June 11 on two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment, the prosecutor’s office said in a news release.
The defendants were identified as:
- Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31
- Jazael Padilla Resto, 36
- Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, 41
- Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, 60
- Jorge Enrique Alban, 33,
- Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, 42
- Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36
Five of the men were also charged with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and interference with commerce by robbery, the prosecutor’s office said.
Two of the men were expected to appear in federal court Tuesday. Padilla is incarcerated in Arizona, where the prosecutor’s office said he is in prison on a burglary charge.
It isn’t clear if they have lawyers to speak on their behalf.
A copy of the indictment shows that Padilla allegedly scouted an international jewelry show in San Mateo, just south of San Francisco, on July 8, 2022. Two days later, Padilla and several others allegedly followed a Brinks semitruck with 73 bags containing millions of dollars in jewelry from San Mateo to rest stops in Buttonwillow, in the state’s Central Valley, and Lebec, north of Los Angeles, according to the indictment.
On July 11, the seven men allegedly stole two-dozen bags from the truck, the indictment shows.
The indictment does not say how they gained access to the truck. Brinks did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office.
After the alleged theft, the group traveled to East Hollywood with the stolen goods. Most of the defendants deactivated the phones they’d been using to communicate about the heist in the days that followed, according to the indictment.
The indictment says the victims tallied the value of the stolen goods at $100 million. The news release says some of that jewelry was recovered when authorities executed search warrants Monday, but the value of those items isn’t clear. Nor is it clear what happened to the rest of the jewelry.
Several of the defendants were also accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of Samsung electronics from interstate cargo shipments and nearly $60,000 in Apple AirTags. Those alleged thefts occurred in 2022, before the jewelry heist, according to the prosecutor’s office.
