Seven men from Southern California have been charged in connection with what is being described as the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history. Under the cover of a police escort, the thieves made off with an estimated $100 million in gold bars, diamond and ruby encrusted luxury watches, uncut emeralds. They pulled off the audacious robbery from a Brinks armored car.
That truck was carrying an unbelievable cargo—73 bags of millions in jewelry! At the time of the heist, the Brinks truck had just picked up diamonds from an international jewelry show taking place in San Mateo. The suspects had planned every detail, scouting the trucking firm’s truck and drivers for nearly 300 miles before carrying out their deadly attack.
Their chase finally ended at a rest stop in Lebec, north of Los Angeles. The defendants’ alleged theft of 24 bags from an unattended Brinks truck parked in Lebec. Those bags held about $100 million in jewels. The theft has prompted fears that precautions are not being followed when it comes to transporting high-value items.
Five of the seven defendants are looking at up to 20 years in federal prison. This would be the case if they are convicted on charges of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and interference with commerce by robbery. Each of the seven defendants is potentially looking at a maximum of five years in prison for the theft conspiracy charge. In addition, they would be looking at 10 year sentences for each count of theft.
Law enforcement has since arrested two suspects. At the same time, a third suspect is in federal prison in Arizona for a separate burglary incident. The government is still pursuing the case against all those responsible for this white-collar crime of epic proportions.