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Suspect in 2022 Brinks jewelry theft agrees to plead guilty
Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado agreed to plead guilty to interference with commerce by robbery in a 2022 California Brinks truck theft that prosecutors called the largest U.S. jewelry heist, the Los Angeles Times reported.
- Los Angeles Times California is now reporting this
- New headline Was: “Accused Ecuadorean thief agrees to plead guilty in largest US jewelry heist”
- Our desk filed its story
Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado has agreed to plead guilty to a federal robbery charge in a 2022 theft from a Brinks truck in California that prosecutors have described as the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history1.
A court filing made public Monday shows he agreed to plead guilty to interference with commerce by robbery, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing the plea agreement1. A hearing is set for Nov. 19, and the charge carries a possible prison term of up to 20 years1.
Mestanza was one of seven men charged last year with breaking into a Brinks rig at a Grapevine-area truck stop and taking gold, gems and luxury watches1. The Times said authorities arrested him about a month after those charges at an international airport in Panama as he was traveling toward Ecuador1.
According to the plea agreement, signed last week, he and others focused on a Brinks semitruck that left an international jewelry show in San Mateo on July 10, 2022, carrying 73 bags of jewelry1. They coordinated by phone while following the truck about 300 miles to rest stops in Buttonwillow and Lebec1.
On July 11, the agreement says, they broke the truck's locks and took 24 bags of jewelry, later valued by victims at about $100 million, then went to East Hollywood1. The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles has described the crime as the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history1.
The seven men were each charged last June with conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and with theft from interstate and foreign shipment1.
Mestanza also admitted agreeing to other 2022 cargo thefts in which the group followed trucks and took cargo, including by force or threat of force, the Times reported1. The agreement describes taking more than $240,000 in Samsung electronics from a truck in March 2022 and more than $57,000 in Apple AirTags from another truck that month1.
Reuters also reported that an accused Ecuadorean defendant agreed to plead guilty in the case; the full Reuters article could not be read for this filing2. Whether a judge will accept the plea, what sentence will be imposed, and the status of the other defendants were not fully set out in the Times account1.
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How it’s being reported
2 sources'Largest jewelry heist in U.S. history' suspect agrees to plead guilty
The plea agreement, the 2022 Grapevine-area theft, and related cargo robberies Mestanza admitted.
A court filing made public Monday shows Mestanza agreed to plead guilty in the 2022 Brinks truck theft of jewelry valued at about $100 million.
Accused Ecuadorean thief agrees to plead guilty in largest US jewelry heist
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