Seven Southern California men on Tuesday were charged for their part in what federal prosecutors called the “largest jewelry heist in U.S history” after they allegedly robbed a Brinks truck of nearly $100 million gold and jewelry in Lebec in 2022.
Two of those men appeared in court on Tuesday, where they were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
All seven defendants received the same charges for the heist, prosecutors said.
An indictment, which was returned in a downtown Los Angeles court last week, says that the group scouted a Brinks truck as it left an international jewelry show in San Mateo, California, carrying 73 bags that contained millions of dollars worth of jewelry. They then followed the truck for more than 300 miles until it reached a rest stop in Lebec, which is located about 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,” said the DOJ’s news release. In the following days, each deactivated the cellphone numbers they used during the heist, prosecutors said.
Along with 41-year-old Rialto man Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig and 42-year-old Upland man Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, who were arrested Monday and appeared in court on Tuesday, prosecutors also charged:
- Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31, of Pasadena;
- Jorge Enrique Alban, 33 of, South Los Angeles;
- Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36, of Westlake;
- Jazael Padilla Resto, 36, of Boyle Heights;
- Victor Hugo Valencia Solarzano, 60, of Rampart Village.
Padilla is currently serving a prison sentence in Arizona for third-degree burglary with unlawful entry and is expected to appear in court in coming weeks, prosecutors noted.
Read more: $10 million worth of jewelry stolen from Brinks tractor-trailer, FBI investigating
Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia and Alban were also charged with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and interference with commerce by robbery, as well as additional counts of theft from interstate and foreign shipment, prosecutors said.
According to the DOJ, Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo and Valencia are also alleged to have stolen $240,573 worth of Samsung electronics from an interstate cargo shipment in Ontario in March of 2022. Those same defendants, and Alban, allegedly robbed a box truck driver of more than $57,000 worth of Apple AirTags, during which one of the alleged robbers brandished a knife and threatened the driver.
In May of 2022, prosecutors say that the defendants allegedly attempted to steal from a truck at a Fontana rest stop by using a crowbar. Shortly after that, they said that the same group stole more than $14,000 worth of Samsung electronics from another interstate shipment in Fontana.
If convicted as charged, Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia and Alban face up to 20 years in federal prison for each robbery charge, and all defendants face up to five years behind bars for the theft conspiracy charge and 10 years in federal prison for each theft charge, prosecutors said.
Some of the jewelry that was taken during the heist was recovered during arrests, according to the DOJ’s release.
