Jewelry Heist Suspects Plead Guilty
Zanesville, OH- Three men charged in connection to a multi-state, multi-million dollar jewelry theft ring have entered a guilty plea.
According to Muskingum County Court records Reyes Flores Higuera, Pedro Garcia and Rafael Flores Hernandez were charged in August with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, breaking and entering, tampering with evidence and possessing criminal tools.
All three plead guilty in Common Pleas Court in front of Judge Kelly Cottrill.
The Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office said in the early morning hours of August 1, the men broke into a local jewelry store and smashed display cases containing more than $170,000 in jewelry.
Law enforcement agencies had been tracking the defendants’ movements for approximately two weeks prior to the crime and were prepared when the thieves struck.
The men are suspects in more than twenty similar jewelry store thefts throughout the southeastern and midwestern United States. The total value of jewelry stolen exceeds $3 million.
