Last month, federal officials allegedly deported one of the suspects in a massive 2022 jewelry heist in Southern California where thieves made off with $100 million in merchandise, in what prosecutors have called the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history.
The deportation angered parties impacted by the robbery and appeared to catch both the suspect’s attorney and federal prosecutors off guard.
Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores was sent to Ecuador on or about December 29, according to court documents obtained by The Los Angeles Times.
He was believed to be linked to a raid on a Brinks truck that netted a fortune in stolen jewels, gold and watches.
In a January motion to dismiss the theft and conspiracy case against Flores, attorney John D. Robertson wrote he had “just learned” of the deportation of his client, who he said was a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. who had lived in the region for 25 years.
Prior to the deportation, Flores had pleaded not guilty.
His removal, which came after Flores was taken into ICE custody in September, appeared to stun observers and prosecutors in the case.
“When a defendant in a major federal theft case leaves the country before trial, victims are left without answers, without a verdict, and without closure,” Jerry Kroll, an attorney for some of the impacted jewelry companies, told the Times. “For our clients — jewelers who lost their life’s work — this outcome exposes a gap in the system that deserves transparency. They are entitled to clear answers about how this happened and whether safeguards exist to prevent it from happening again.”
In separate January court documents, prosecutors said Flores was taken into immigration custody “unbeknownst” to them, and that the officials played “no role” in ICE’s decisions. The prosecutors added they “remain eager to prosecute defendant for his crimes and vindicate his victims” if he returns to the country.
The officials said Flores appeared at an immigration hearing on December 16, where he represented himself, and admitted to the allegations against him then requested voluntary departure.
The Independent has contacted ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Flores’s surprise removal is the latest twist in a case that began with an alleged early-morning raid and has turned into a multi-year, multi-country manhunt.
In June, the Justice Department indicted seven people tied to the heist of the Brinks truck in Lebec, as well as a series of other high-dollar robberies throughout 2022.
Things were set in motion as the robbery ring allegedly tailed a Brinks truck leaving from a jewelry show in San Mateo on July 10, 2022.
“I’m pretty sure we were followed from the show where we got loaded,” driver Tandy Motley told police on the scene of the heist.
The alleged thieves then continued to follow the vehicle for about 300 miles south until it reached a rest stop in Lebec in the early morning the following day.
There, the thieves broke into the truck without incident while one of its guards was reportedly sleeping and another was inside the rest stop getting food.
The gang made off with 24 bags of merchandise including gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and luxury watches.
They then deactivated the burner phones they had been using.
However, the night before the heist, one of the alleged robbers gave police his burner phone number when reporting a car crash, which allowed investigators to trace the number to a cell phone tower near the site of the heist, the Times reported in October.
Five of the seven suspects have been arrested, one of whom was found in Panama.
Much of the merchandise has not been recovered.
