A Miami man is facing a decade behind bars after a jury found him guilty of heisting a massive load of Perry Ellis perfume, valued at over $230,000. Sixty-nine-year-old Eligio Bacallao was convicted of one count each of conspiracy to commit cargo theft and cargo theft, authorities said.
The elaborate plot unfurled in April 2016 when Bacallao and his fellow conspirators swiped more than 19,000 pounds of the fragrant goods from an ostensibly secure, GPS-tracked tractor-trailer. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the cargo never made its intended journey to Laredo, Texas, instead diverting to Hialeah, Florida because of the steal.
Two accomplices involved in the perfume pinch had already been convicted back in July 2017. U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard is slated to issue Bacallao's fate on April 10, 2024. If the full weight of the law is imposed, Bacallao could be cuffed for up to 10 years, the statutory maximum for his crimes.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe and FBI Miami Field Office Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri played key roles in bringing down the aromatic antagonists. The case prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stefan Diaz Espinosa and Alexandra D. Comolli, are the lead on this high-profile prosecution. "This conviction demonstrates our enduring resolve to protect commerce from the scourge of cargo thefts," Lapointe confirmed in a statement courting local media.
