NEW YORK – Two homeowners of a New York Metropolis pawnshop that was raided by the FBI in reference to an investigation right into a housebreaking on the house of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow have been denied bail Friday, with a federal choose saying it will be “ironic” to launch the lads simply two days earlier than the Tremendous Bowl.
“No thanks,” stated U.S. District Court docket Choose William Kuntz as he ordered Dimitriy Nezhinskiy and Juan Villar held till their August trial date. “That is one Tremendous Bowl they’ll have to take a seat on the sidelines for.”
FBI brokers on Tuesday swept into the lads’s pawnshop in Manhattan’s Diamond District, an space that is a bit more than a metropolis block however is house to greater than 2,600 jewelers and serves as a conduit for a majority of the diamonds that enter the USA.
Prosecutors stated a cache of suspected stolen property was discovered on the pawnshop and storage items in New Jersey belonging to Nezhinskiy. The store, prosecutors stated, served as a fencing operation that supplied an “important market” for stolen items that inspired housebreaking crews to focus on rich properties across the nation.
Nezhinskiy and Villar have not been charged in reference to particular robberies, however prosecutors in New York stated cellphone data hyperlink Nezhinskiy to one of many males charged with ransacking Burrow’s home whereas he was taking part in in a recreation final yr.
The boys charged within the housebreaking took pictures of themselves flashing a few of the spoils, which included jewellery, watches, designer baggage and glasses. One even wore necklaces with pendants exhibiting the quantity 9 and “JB9,” Burrow’s jersey quantity.
That break-in adopted different robberies focusing on different big-name American athletes.
Among the many high-end properties hit by worldwide theft crews have been these of NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight finish Travis Kelce of the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, who’re vying for his or her third straight title once they face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in New Orleans.
Prosecutors say the thieves additionally plundered luxurious objects from the properties of Luka Doncic of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, and Mike Conley Jr. of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The investigation into the brazen burglaries has spanned a number of states and led to a minimum of six arrests, although it is unclear whether or not there are any hyperlinks between these thefts.
Prosecutors say the crews, consisting of international nationals from South America, largely hit the properties whereas athletes have been out of city, together with when competing with their groups on highway video games.
Nezhinskiy’s lawyer stated he would instantly attraction the choice to jail his 43-year-old consumer, a Georgian nationwide who lives in New Jersey.
A Justice of the Peace choose had earlier set bail at $1 million secured by two household properties in New Jersey and $150,000 in money.
“The household is extraordinarily upset with this transformation of occasions,” Todd Greenberg stated after the listening to. “They count on him to be house to struggle this case.”
Villar’s lawyer stated he was additionally contemplating an attraction.
“It’s alarming,” Lauriano Guzman stated, noting his 48-year-old consumer, who lives in New York Metropolis, had been launched lower than 24 hours earlier after having posted $500,000 bail.
The legal professionals had pushed again on the suggestion from prosecutors that the crimes their shoppers have been charged with have been violent.
Prosecutors argued the 2, who’ve pleaded not responsible to stolen property prices, had prolonged legal data, posed a hazard to the neighborhood and have been flight dangers.
“Their conduct promotes the victimizing of people of their properties and endangering communities on a big scale,” prosecutors wrote in authorized filings. “This conduct was not remoted, as a substitute, it has been ongoing for years.”
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Comply with Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
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