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7 Men Indicted in $100M Brinks Jewelry Heist
The heist happened in Lebec, California, in 2022 when a Brinks truck was transporting goods from one show in California to another.
Seven men ranging in age from 31 to 60 have been indicted in the July 2022 robbery of a Brinks truck that was transporting gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches from a direct-to-consumer jewelry show in San Mateo, California, to another show in Pasadena. Losses from the heist totaled $100 million.
Los Angeles—Seven men have been indicted in what is said to be the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles announced earlier this week.
The men, who range in age from 31-60 and mostly reside in the L.A. area, face two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment for their roles in the July 2022 robbery of a Brinks truck transporting merchandise from one California jewelry show to another.
Five of the men also face charges for stealing from trucks transporting Samsung electronics and Apple AirTags, all of which they would bring back to Los Angeles County, divide up, and fence for profit, the indictment alleges.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the seven men are: Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31, of Pasadena; 36-year-old Jazael Padilla Resto of Los Angeles, who is currently serving a sentence in an Arizona prison for third-degree burglary with unlawful entry; Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, 41, of Rialto; Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, 60, of Los Angeles; Jorge Enrique Alban, 33, of South Los Angeles; Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, 42, of Upland; and Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36, of Los Angeles.
The jewelry heist happened on July 11, 2022, and involved a Brinks 18-wheeler semi-truck/trailer that was transporting jewelry, gemstones, and watches from the International Gem and Jewelry Show (InterGem) in San Mateo, California, to the Pasadena Convention Center.
According to the indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, in order to plan and pull off the robbery, Padilla and others scouted InterGem all three days it was open, July 8, 9, and 10, while Padilla was on the phone with an unnamed co-conspirator.
Mestanza, Lugo, and Alban, meanwhile, allegedly scouted the Brinks truck on the last day of the show, July 10. The truck contained a total of 73 bags of jewelry worth millions of dollars.
According to the indictment, starting on the night of July 10, six of the seven defendants—Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia, Presilla, and Macias—followed the semi as it traveled more than 300 miles south from San Mateo to rest stops in Buttonwillow, California, and Lebec, an unincorporated community about 80 miles north of Pasadena.
It was at a Flying J rest stop in Lebec that the men allegedly snatched 24 of the 73 bags of jewelry.
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The men, who range in age from 31-60 and mostly reside in the L.A. area, face two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment for their roles in the July 2022 robbery of a Brinks truck transporting merchandise from one California jewelry show to another.
Five of the men also face charges for stealing from trucks transporting Samsung electronics and Apple AirTags, all of which they would bring back to Los Angeles County, divide up, and fence for profit, the indictment alleges.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the seven men are: Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31, of Pasadena; 36-year-old Jazael Padilla Resto of Los Angeles, who is currently serving a sentence in an Arizona prison for third-degree burglary with unlawful entry; Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, 41, of Rialto; Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, 60, of Los Angeles; Jorge Enrique Alban, 33, of South Los Angeles; Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, 42, of Upland; and Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36, of Los Angeles.
The jewelry heist happened on July 11, 2022, and involved a Brinks 18-wheeler semi-truck/trailer that was transporting jewelry, gemstones, and watches from the International Gem and Jewelry Show (InterGem) in San Mateo, California, to the Pasadena Convention Center.
According to the indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, in order to plan and pull off the robbery, Padilla and others scouted InterGem all three days it was open, July 8, 9, and 10, while Padilla was on the phone with an unnamed co-conspirator.
Mestanza, Lugo, and Alban, meanwhile, allegedly scouted the Brinks truck on the last day of the show, July 10. The truck contained a total of 73 bags of jewelry worth millions of dollars.
According to the indictment, starting on the night of July 10, six of the seven defendants—Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia, Presilla, and Macias—followed the semi as it traveled more than 300 miles south from San Mateo to rest stops in Buttonwillow, California, and Lebec, an unincorporated community about 80 miles north of Pasadena.
It was at a Flying J rest stop in Lebec that the men allegedly snatched 24 of the 73 bags of jewelry.
Dueling lawsuits filed by Brinks and the jewelers who suffered losses shed light on exactly what happened the night of the robbery.
According to the lawsuit filed by the armored car company in August 2022, the truck had two armed guards; Driver 1 was operating the vehicle while Driver 2 was asleep when the truck pulled into the Flying J rest stop.
Driver 1 spent about 30 minutes getting food inside the Flying J, and when he returned to the truck, he found the red plastic seal around the trailer was cut, as was its rear lock.
According to the lawsuit, Driver 2 reported that they did not see or hear anything unusual.
The indictment states that the six men, plus the seventh defendant, Alban, then traveled to East Hollywood with the stolen jewelry, valued at $100 million. Five of the seven men later deactivated the cell phones they had used to communicate during the robbery.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said some of the stolen jewelry was recovered when police executed search warrants on June 16.
In the indictment, Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia, and Alban are also alleged to have stolen nearly $241,000 in Samsung electronics from an interstate cargo shipment in Ontario, California, months prior to the jewelry heist, on March 2, 2022.
About a week later, they allegedly robbed a box-truck driver of more than $57,000 worth of Apple AirTags.
During the AirTags robbery, the driver caught the defendants in the act. One of them yelled at the driver, “Don’t move or I will [expletive] you up!” while brandishing a small knife, the indictment states.
In late May 2022, the same five defendants allegedly stole more Samsung electronics, about $14,000 worth, from another interstate shipment in Fontana, California.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said if convicted, Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia, and Alban will face statutory maximum sentences of 20 years in federal prison for each robbery charge.
All defendants will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the theft conspiracy charge and 10 years in federal prison for each theft charge if convicted.
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