On Tuesday, seven men from Southern California were charged for their involvement in what federal prosecutors referred to as the “largest jewelry heist in the history of the United States.” The incident occurred in Lebec in 2022, when they allegedly stole nearly one hundred million dollars worth of gold and jewelry from a Brinks truck.
According to a press release issued by the United States Attorney’s Office, two of those men made an appearance in court on Tuesday. There, they were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment as well as theft from interstate and foreign shipment.
As a result of the theft, all seven defendants were charged with the same offense, according to the prosecutors.
An indictment that was returned in a court in the downtown area of Los Angeles last week states that the group scouted a Brinks truck as it was leaving an international jewelry show in San Mateo, California. The truck was carrying 73 bags that contained jewelry worth millions of dollars. After that, they followed the truck for more than 300 miles until it arrived at a rest stop in Lebec, which is situated approximately 80 miles north of Los Angeles.
“While the truck was stopped in Lebec, those defendants stole 24 bags from the Brinks truck containing approximately $100 million of jewelry,” according to the Department of Justice’s press release. The prosecutors claim that in the days that followed, each of the individuals deactivated the cellphone numbers that they had used during the theft.
Additionally, in addition to Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, age 41, of Rialto, and Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, age 42, of Upland, who were both taken into custody on Monday and appeared in court on Tuesday, the following individuals were charged by the prosecution:
Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, age 31, from Pasadena; Jorge Enrique Alban, age 33, from South Los Angeles; Eduardo Macias Ibarra, age 36, from Westlake; Jazal Padilla Resto, age 36, from Boyle Heights; Victor Hugo Valencia Solarzano, age 60, from Rampart Village—these are the individuals who have been arrested.
Prosecutors have noted that Padilla is currently serving a prison sentence in Arizona for the crime of third-degree burglary with unlawful entry. It is anticipated that Padilla will make an appearance in court within the next few weeks.
Prosecutors stated that Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia, and Alban were also charged with additional counts of theft from interstate and foreign shipment, in addition to two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and multiple counts of interference with commerce by robbery.
Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, and Valencia are also accused of stealing Samsung electronics worth a total of $240,573 from an interstate cargo shipment that was located in Ontario in March of 2022. This information comes from the Department of Justice at the time. A box truck driver was allegedly robbed of more than $57,000 worth of Apple AirTags by those same defendants, as well as by Alban. During the course of the alleged robbery, one of the alleged robbers brandished a knife and threatened the driver.
Using a crowbar, the defendants are accused of attempting to steal from a truck that was parked at a rest stop in Fontana in the month of May with the intention of committing the theft. Almost immediately after that, they reported that the same group had stolen Samsung electronics worth more than fourteen thousand dollars from another interstate shipment that had been delivered in Fontana.
In the event that they are found guilty as charged, Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia, and Alban face a maximum sentence of twenty years in federal prison for each of the robbery charges. Additionally, all defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the theft conspiracy charge and ten years in federal prison for each theft charge, according to the prosecutors.
In accordance with the release issued by the Department of Justice, a portion of the jewelry that was stolen during the heist was found during the arrests.
