By Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P] / Bay City News
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that five people have been convicted of crimes related to a theft ring involving more than $8 million in stolen merchandise from stores throughout the Bay Area.
From the city of Burlingame, Bonta made the announcement along with law enforcement officials from San Mateo County, where most of the burglaries occurred.
The announcement came immediately after a wave of illicit happened in several cities.
"The organized retail theft we are seeing throughout California is unacceptable," Bonta said.
The investigation, which began in April 2020, uncovered a theft ring in which five suspects transported, stored and sold merchandise stolen from retail stores in the Bay Area. The stolen goods, which also included over-the-counter medications, were then resold on sites such as eBay, prosecutors said.
"Organized criminals resell their stolen goods and, in many cases, use the money to finance additional illicit activities such as organized crime and human trafficking, for example. Those who break the law and sell stolen goods will be held accountable," the attorney general stressed.
"The lead defendant organized what we believe is one of the largest retail theft rings ever busted in the history of the state," he added.
San Mateo County Sheriff Carlos Bolaños described the network as "a hierarchy of criminals buying and distributing stolen property consisting primarily of electronics and retail products.
He also said that the group of 5 people, "was a criminal network responsible for an international distribution center, moving millions of dollars in stolen merchandise".
San Mateo Deputy District Attorney Shin-Mee Chang stressed that this case is a great example of how organized retail theft rings are wreaking havoc in the counties and how through collaboration something can be done to combat "these crimes that harm our community."
The five defendants, Danny Louis Drago, Michelle Renee Fowler, Jose Villatoro, Isis Vasquez Villanueva and Edgar Geovany Robles Morales were arrested in September 2020. At that time, more than $1.8 million was seized from multiple bank accounts, according to prosecutors.
The main defendant, Drago, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit organized retail theft, receiving stolen property and money laundering, and an aggravated white collar crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced in February and could receive up to six years in prison, authorities said.
Meanwhile, Fowler pleaded guilty to organized retail theft, receiving stolen property and aggravated white collar crime. She was sentenced to three years in prison, with two years of supervised probation.
Robles Morales and Villanueva have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit organized retail theft, for which both were sentenced to probation; while Villatoro pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property and was also sentenced to probation.
