The Brink’s semi truck containing dozens of bags of glittering jewels and luxury watches from an international jewelry show near San Francisco pulled into a rest stop nestled among the mountains north of Los Angeles. So, too, did the thieves who were following it on a 300-mile journey.
Although specific details on how exactly they pulled off what federal prosecutors are calling “the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history” were not available, an indictment in the case said that some had acted as lookouts while others made off with 24 bags, containing an estimated $100 million worth of goods.
Now, nearly three years later, seven men have been charged in connection with the theft, and some of the jewelry that was stolen has been recovered, the Justice Department said in a news release on Tuesday.
“This isn’t a group that just woke up and met in the park and said, ‘Hey, let’s go follow a jewelry tractor-trailer from a jewelry show,’” said Scott Guginsky, the executive vice president of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, a trade association that tracks jewelry crimes for retailers and the police, adding that a lot of thought goes into planning such a crime.
The men who have been indicted — Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, Jorge Enrique Alban, Jazael Padilla Resto, Eduardo Macias Ibarra, Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores and Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano — each face two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment, as well as theft from interstate and foreign shipment, according to the Justice Department, which did not say how the men were caught.
Five of the men — Mr. Mestanza, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Lugo, Mr. Valencia, and Mr. Alban — were also charged with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, as well as interference with commerce by robbery, prosecutors said.
Each robbery charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while the theft charges can bring 10 years, and the conspiracy charge five.
Mr. Padilla is currently serving a prison sentence in Arizona for third-degree burglary in an unrelated case.
Mr. Lugo and Mr. Presilla appeared in court on Tuesday and will remain in custody until their trial, which is set for Aug. 1. Their lawyers did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
The Justice Department said that they were “not currently at liberty” to say where the four other men were, though The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that they remained at large.
In a statement, Brink’s said that it appreciated law enforcement’s efforts to solve the robbery, which occurred on July 11, 2022, at a Flying J Travel Center in Lebec, Calif., and that it would “continue to watch the case closely.”
Federal prosecutors said in a statement that “while the loss numbers are astronomical, they are tied to real victims, whom we hope to bring some sense of justice.”
Crimes against jewelry firms declined roughly 12 percent in 2024 compared with the previous year, but dollar losses increased because of the sophistication of burglary crews, according to a report from the J.S.A.
Jewelry firms across the nation reported losses of $142.5 million in 2024 attributed to crime, a 7 percent increase from the $133.2 million reported in 2023, according to the J.S.A. There were 1,420 crimes reported against these firms last year, down from 1,621 in 2023.
Mr. Guginsky said that robberies can be devastating to jewelry stores, especially small ones that might not have the proper insurance. Such crimes, he said, mean that “a lot of businesses might go out of business.”
He said that while the robbery at the rest stop had been one of the largest jewelry heists in U.S. history, “this is cargo taken from a truck.”
“It wasn’t that it was targeting a jewelry store, cutting a roof, cutting a safe, kidnapping somebody,” he said, “but it is one the larger losses we’ve seen with multiple victims that had their goods on that truck.”
Aimee Ortiz covers breaking news and other topics.
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