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Man Charged in $1M Jewelry Store Heist Lands on FBI Most Wanted List
Alberto Perez-Elias is one of four men charged with robbing a Cape Coral, Florida, jewelry store and is the only one still at large.
Alberto Perez-Elias is in his mid-50s and is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall and 150 pounds. He is wanted by the FBI for being part of a four-man crew that robbed a Florida jewelry store of $1 million in merchandise back in January. (Photo courtesy of FBI)
Fort Myers, Fla.—One of four men charged with robbing a Florida jewelry store after breaking through the wall of the business next door has been added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
In a superseding indictment filed June 24, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Fort Myers, Florida, charged Alberto Perez-Elias and three other men—52-year-old Ivel Sanchez Rivera and 37-year-old Osmani Barrios Carrera, both of Hialeah, Florida, and 42-year-old Yunior Lopez-Delgado of Miami—in the robbery of Tio Jewelers in Cape Coral, Florida.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, the armed robbery happened on the morning of Jan. 6, with Carrera acting as the lookout and Rivera as the getaway driver.
Lopez-Delgado and Perez-Elias were the ones who entered the jewelry store by breaking through the wall of a vacant business next door.
The two men held the manager at gunpoint and gained access to the safe, stealing thousands of pieces of jewelry worth more than $1 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
According to the affidavit, the jewelry that was stolen was a mix of pieces that Tio Jewelers was selling, repairing, or had purchased in a pawn transaction.
“Tio Jewelers regularly purchased gold and jewelry from other states in the United States for use in manufacturing jewelry sold in its store,” the affidavit states.
“As a result of the robbery, the commerce activity of Tio Jewelers was severely affected and it substantially interfered with their interstate commerce activity by taking jewelry that had to be replaced and depleting their financial assets, which they used to purchase gold and jewelry from other states.”
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In a superseding indictment filed June 24, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Fort Myers, Florida, charged Alberto Perez-Elias and three other men—52-year-old Ivel Sanchez Rivera and 37-year-old Osmani Barrios Carrera, both of Hialeah, Florida, and 42-year-old Yunior Lopez-Delgado of Miami—in the robbery of Tio Jewelers in Cape Coral, Florida.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, the armed robbery happened on the morning of Jan. 6, with Carrera acting as the lookout and Rivera as the getaway driver.
Lopez-Delgado and Perez-Elias were the ones who entered the jewelry store by breaking through the wall of a vacant business next door.
The two men held the manager at gunpoint and gained access to the safe, stealing thousands of pieces of jewelry worth more than $1 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
According to the affidavit, the jewelry that was stolen was a mix of pieces that Tio Jewelers was selling, repairing, or had purchased in a pawn transaction.
“Tio Jewelers regularly purchased gold and jewelry from other states in the United States for use in manufacturing jewelry sold in its store,” the affidavit states.
“As a result of the robbery, the commerce activity of Tio Jewelers was severely affected and it substantially interfered with their interstate commerce activity by taking jewelry that had to be replaced and depleting their financial assets, which they used to purchase gold and jewelry from other states.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said all four men fled to Miami after the robbery. Rivera, Carrera, and Lopez-Delgado were eventually arrested, but Perez-Elias remains at large.
In its crime alert sent out Thursday, the Jewelers’ Security Alliance included a notice from the FBI that Perez-Elias, who lived in Miami but is a Cuban national, is on its Most Wanted List.
He is described as a man in his mid-50s who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs150 pounds.
Perez-Elias faces federal charges of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, interference with commerce by robbery, and use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The other men accused in the Tio Jewelers robbery face the same charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
If convicted, they each face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, as well as a seven-year consecutive sentence for the gun charge.
The FBI considers Perez-Elias to be armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact their local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or submit their tip on the FBI website.
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