A jewel heist stated to be the most important in U.S. historical past started with the scouting of the loot at a San Mateo gem present, says a brand new doc filed towards the seven suspects.
Greater than $100 million in gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxurious watches had been in 22 baggage nabbed from a Brink’s truck on July 11, 2022, stated a sealed indictment filed in federal court docket on June 11. The fees towards the seven Southern California males had been introduced Tuesday, June 17, by the U.S. legal professional’s workplace in Los Angeles.
The indictment’s timeline says one member of the theft crew attended the Worldwide Gem & Jewellery Present on the San Mateo County fairgrounds on all three days of its run — July 8-10, 2022 — and that he and co-defendants recognized a Brink’s semitruck that was to hold 73 baggage of knickknack to the present’s subsequent cease, in Pasadena.
A Los Angeles Instances report in 2023 stated the occasion’s supervisor seen a person observing the exhibitors packing up after the present and ordered a safety guard to oust him. She then notified the Brink’s employees and the jewelers about “suspicious” folks on website.
One of many Brink’s drivers advised the Instances he noticed somebody sitting in an SUV watching the loading of the truck — “It just felt weird,” he stated.
When the truck left the fairgrounds on the night time of July 10, six of the robbers reportedly tailed it down Interstate 5.
An earlier lawsuit involving Brink’s and the jewels’ house owners stated the theft came about round 2:15 a.m. on the Flying J Truck Cease in Lebec, on the Grapevine part of I-5.
One driver went into the truck cease to get meals, leaving his co-worker sleeping within the truck’s berth. When the motive force returned about 27 minutes later, he noticed that the purple plastic seal on the truck’s trailer had been minimize and that the lock had been damaged, the account stated. Twenty-two baggage had been lacking.
The truck had been out of the vary of any surveillance cameras.
The lawsuit filed by Brink’s towards the jewelers accused them of undervaluing the merchandise to be transported. It stated the purchasers had been trying to recuperate way over the declared worth, which was $8.7 million for all the cargo. Jewellery business insiders advised the Instances that it’s normal follow to declare a low worth to cut back transport charges.
A countersuit by the jewelers accused Brink’s of “lax security.”
The seven males named within the new indictment are:
Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31, of Pasadena
Jazael Padilla Resto, 36, of Boyle Heights
Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, 41, of Rialto
Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, 60, of Rampart Village in Los Angeles
Jorge Enrique Alban, 33, of South Los Angeles
Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, 42, of Upland
Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36, of the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles
Padilla Resto is serving an Arizona jail sentence for housebreaking. Two males had been arrested earlier than this week’s announcement, and the standing of the 4 others wasn’t specified.
Initially Printed: June 18, 2025 at 10:32 AM PDT
