Seven Southern Californians have been identified as the thieves who targeted a Brinks truck in the Grapevine three years ago, pulling off what officials say is the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history.
The July 10, 2022, heist resulted in the theft of “approximately $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and luxury watches,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
Some of what was being transported from a jewelry show near San Francisco to one in Pasadena was recovered by authorities earlier this month, the DOJ said.
Seven people have been charged with with two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment, the DOJ said:
- Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31, of Pasadena
- Jazael Padilla Resto, aka “Ricardo Noel Moya,” “Ricardo Barbosa” and “Alberto Javier Loza Chamorro,” 36, of Boyle Heights and currently an inmate in Arizona state prison
- Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, aka “Walter Loza,” 41, of Rialto
- Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, 60, of the Rampart Village neighborhood of Los Angeles
- Jorge Enrique Alban, 33, of South Los Angeles
- Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, 42, of Upland
- Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36, of the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles
Of those seven, five people — Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia and Alban — also face charges of inference with commerce by robbery and two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, as well as “additional counts of theft from interstate and foreign shipment.”
In addition to the 2022 theft at a Lebec rest stop, “Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, and Valencia are also alleged to have stolen $240,573 worth of Samsung electronics from an interstate cargo shipment in Ontario on March 2, 2022,” prosecutors said.
“Those same defendants, and Alban, allegedly then robbed a box truck driver of $57,377 worth of Apple AirTags,” the DOJ said. “One of the robbers brandished a knife and threatened the driver.”
Federal officials also alleged the crew tried similar break-ins on trucks in Fontana.
If the alleged thieves are convicted, each theft charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, five for each conspiracy charge and 20 for each robbery charge.
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