Most of the jewellery from the Brinks armoured truck heist in July 2022 in California has not been recovered and none returned to the firms. Photo / FBI Los Angeles
A suspect in what federal authorities consider the largest jewellery heist in United States history might avoid a criminal trial because Ice deported him to Ecuador, bringing further disarray to the victims affected by the multimillion-dollar robbery, their lawyer says.
Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores pleaded not guilty after prosecutors indicted him and seven others in federal court for the brazen theft of US$100 million ($170m) worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches from an armoured car in July 2022.
Presilla faced up to 15 years in prison, but his deportation by Ice agents in late December, which, according to court filings, occurred without consulting his lawyer or federal prosecutors, has temporarily thwarted any potential resolution.
It also has thrown the heist’s victims into further upheaval after enduring three years of financial hardship, according to the jewellery companies’ lawyer, Jerry Kroll.
Kroll said he represents more than 40 people, including older, small business owners, who lost their entire livelihoods in the theft.
“They’re in disbelief,” Kroll said of his clients’ reaction to the deportation. “And they want to know how could this happen?”
Presilla, 42, posted a US$275,000 bond in late August but before being released, he was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, according to court records.
He is among the thousands of detainees across the US who have been transferred from prisons and jails into Ice custody to fulfil the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown. .
Presilla, a permanent lawful resident living in California for 25 years, was moved to the Adelanto Ice processing centre where a judge signed a final order of removal on December 16, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
He was deported to Ecuador, his country of origin, on December 28, McLaughlin said.
“Under President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristy] Noem, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the US,” McLaughlin wrote.
A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California declined to comment on the case and any pending arrests.
The Los Angeles Times first reported Presilla’s deportation.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Presilla was among the men who stalked a Brink’s semitruck that was transporting valuable goods after an international jewellery show in San Mateo, a city south of San Francisco, more than two years ago. Presilla and his accomplices trailed the vehicle for 480km, court records allege.
The group allegedly broke into the truck at a rest stop in Central California, where they took 24 bags filled with jewellery. The indictment does not detail how the men gained access to the vehicle.
Court records say the men then travelled with the stolen goods to East Hollywood and deactivated the cellphones they used in the plot.
Apart from Presilla, two men indicted in the case were released on bail, one was arrested in Panama and extradited to the US, and another remains in custody. It is unclear whether the remaining two men have been arrested.
In a January 9 court filing, Presilla’s defence lawyer John Robertson, said he had “just learned” of his client’s deportation.
Robertson wrote in court records that Presilla is “indigent” and that his transfer to Ice custody had presented “enormous problems for court-appointed defence counsel” to communicate in preparation for a trial.
Robertson argued that the US federal Government forwent prosecution by choosing to deport Presilla.
Therefore, Robertson motioned for the case against Presilla to be dismissed with prejudice, meaning that charges won’t be refiled for the same crime.
“The Government cannot now have it both ways,” Robertson wrote.
Federal prosecutors asserted that they did not forgo their case and asked the judge to dismiss the charges against Presilla without prejudice, meaning Presilla would face charges if he returns to the country.
Prosecutors said civil immigration processes are supposed to play out independently while criminal charges are pending.
“Those prosecutors remain eager to prosecute defendant for his crimes and vindicate his victims’ - who unabashedly share that desire - interests,” said court documents filed by prosecutors.
A judge is scheduled to rule on the case’s dismissal with or without prejudice in February.
Federal officials said in June that a portion of the stolen jewellery had been found during the execution of a search warrant. It is unclear where that search warrant was executed.
Kroll, the lawyer for the jewellery companies, said some watches were recovered as well as cash, but federal authorities have not disclosed the full audit.
None of the jewellery has been returned to the companies, Kroll said.
One of his clients picked up a job washing dishes for a Chinese restaurant after the robbery because “he couldn’t make money because he had nothing left”, Kroll said.
Kroll said Presilla’s deportation means there is one less person who could point authorities to the missing jewellery. Kroll added that, in this case, the immigration enforcement agency appeared at odds with the criminal justice proceedings.
“A system failure is what we’re looking at. This should not happen,” Kroll said.
He added that the scale of the heist makes the lack of prosecution all the more jarring.
“They’re saying it’s $100 million, the largest ever. And he gets to go home.”
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