One of the seven key defendants in the jewelry heist case, which has been cited as the largest in the nation’s history (according to the July 19, 2022 issue, page A-3), has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors to plead guilty.
The Los Angeles Times reported on the 9th, citing a plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, that defendant Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado agreed to plead guilty to interference with commerce by robbery. A guilty plea hearing is scheduled for the 19th. Mestanza faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Defense counsel declined to comment.
According to the agreement, Mestanza and his accomplices trailed a Brink’s jewelry transport truck leaving the San Mateo International Gem and Jewelry Show on July 10, 2022. At the time, the truck was carrying 73 bags of jewelry and other items destined for Pasadena. The group communicated via communication devices and tracked the vehicle for a roughly 300-mile stretch up to the Buttonwillow and Lebec rest areas.
The following day, they broke the vehicle’s locks at a Grapevine-area truck stop, stole 24 bags, and fled to East Hollywood. Fourteen victimized jewelers estimated the value of the stolen gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, luxury watches, and other items at approximately $100 million. Some jewelers suffered devastating losses and left the industry. Federal prosecutors have designated the case as the ‘largest jewelry robbery in U.S. history.’
Mestanza admitted that after the crime, he and his accomplices canceled the mobile phone numbers used in the crime to avoid identity tracing. In addition, he confessed to charges of stealing $240,000 worth of Samsung electronics from a transport truck with accomplices in March 2022, and over $57,000 worth of Apple AirTags from another truck that same month.
According to an indictment unsealed in June of last year, federal prosecutors charged Mestanza and six others with conspiring to steal freight moving interstate or foreign commerce. Mestanza was arrested at an international airport in Panama a month after his indictment while attempting to flee to Ecuador.
Meanwhile, three of the remaining defendants are scheduled to stand trial in March. Another defendant, Helson Nelron Fresia Flores, was deported overseas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while awaiting trial. Prosecutors stated they were unaware of the deportation at the time and plan to have Flores repatriated to stand trial as well.
