Greece, NY- A Colombian man has been sentenced to just under five years in prison for his role in an organized, nationwide jewelry theft ring that targeted a business in the Rochester region.
Jorge Giovanni Escobar Gonzalez, 41, and his co-conspirators, who were also Colombian citizens, burglarized jewelry stores and kiosks located inside malls in eight different towns and cities, including a kiosk at The Mall at Greece Ridge the morning of Sept. 20, 2023, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
Court paperwork said Escobar Gonzalez and five others arrived at the mall in three different vehicles and entered through “restricted or maintenance doors.” Two of the men entered the kiosk, stole merchandise and handed it off to two others who were standing outside of the kiosk.
One of the suspects was wearing gloves and holding a screwdriver, which was recovered along with two cans of fire spray foam, court paperwork said. Police believe the foam was used to silence alarms and cover motion sensors.
Court paperwork said the group later discarded gloves, tools and jewelry display items in a field in Hornell. Surveillance footage also captured three separate reconnaissance jobs the two days prior to the theft.
The series of burglaries took place between May 2023 and April 2024 resulted in a total of more than $4.4 million in losses for the victim stores, prosecutors said. None of the stolen merchandise has been recovered.
Prosecutors said the group would typically surveil the stores and formulate game plans before committing the crimes. In one instance, Escobar Gonzalez posed as a customer to examine a store’s merchandise and security features. He also frequently served as one of the people who broke into the stores and display cases while others kept a lookout, according to prosecutors.
Aside from Greece, targeted businesses are located in:
Paterson, New Jersey
Hamilton Township, New Jersey
Mentor, Ohio
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Milford, Connecticut — Connecticut Post Mall
Lombard, Illinois
Henrico, Virginia
Prosecutors said members of the scheme also stole from jewelry stores and kiosks in Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and Delaware
Escobar Gonzalez was arrested in Florida May 19, 2024 in connection to another jewelry burglary, according to prosecutors. He pleaded guilty April 9 to interstate transportation of stolen property.
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