Last Member of Colombian Robbery Crew Pleads Guilty to $5 Million Miami Jewelry Heists

Leroy Ortega, the final member of a transnational Colombian robbery crew, has pleaded guilty to participating in a series of robberies and thefts targeting jewelry couriers in Miami, crimes that amounted to over $5 million in losses. Ortega, known as "El Enano," was among 11 defendants caught in Operation Boujee Bandits, an initiative aimed to dismantle South American theft groups committing organized crime in the Southern District of Florida.

According to a statement obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva noted, "This transnational theft crew came to the United States to steal from American businesses and preyed upon unsuspecting, hard-working citizens who were just trying to do their jobs as jewelry couriers." Ortega's role was to actively participate along with the other already convicted defendants, in executing sophisticated, high-value robberies. The collective efforts of the special agents, analysts, and law enforcement partners around the world managed to successfully and effectively to dismantle these criminal operations.

The courtroom documents revealed that the crew, which Ortega was a part of, engaged in aggressive tactics to forcibly extract valuables from individuals they followed from locations such as the International Jewelry Exchanges or the Seybold Jewelry Building, sometimes using weapon-like objects to secure compliance from their victims. In one particularly violent encounter on October 16, 2019, Ortega, assisted by co-defendant Allan Lucas, mistook a professional photographer for a jewelry courier and robbed him of his photography equipment, resulting in injury when the victim was thrown to the ground while chasing the getaway car.

Additionally, on November 7, 2019, Ortega and accomplices, including Andres Barahona Poveda and Edwin Castillo, executed a robbery of a jewelry salesman for approximately $125,000 worth of assorted jewelry. The methodology involved following the victim to his place of business in Miami Beach and employing force, wherein Ortega barred the salesman in his vehicle while associates looted the possessions. Vehicles were rented for these crimes through the use of fraudulent documents, including a Venezuelan driver’s license, implicated as well in the criminal charges, as detailed by the same press release.

The guilty plea submitted by Ortega covers conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery and two counts of Hobbs Act robbery, with sentencing set for May 1, carrying a potential maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars. Other members of the crew have already been convicted and sentenced, such as Allan Lucas with 168 months and Diana Grisales Basto with 97 months in prison.

The extensive investigation leading to these convictions was led by the FBI Tampa Field Office, with valuable help from various law enforcement agencies including the FBI Miami Field Office and the Miami-Dade Police Department, among others. The trial attorneys, Lakeita F. Rox-Love and Christopher D. Usher II of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Dobbins for the Southern District of Florida, were integral in prosecuting the case. For more details, refer to the official press release by the Justice Department.