How Craigslist mastermind helped orchestrate jewel heists from prison
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How a criminal mastermind helped orchestrate jewellery heists from his prison cell using a contraband phone and Craigslist to pinpoint victims
Gang 'paid for flights and limo for jewel sellers who would then be driven to remote location and robbed'
FBI began investigating after witnessing attempted robbery while on another stakeout
Cellphone records led them to California inmate accused of finding potential victims online
By Daily Mail Reporter
Published: 22:46 EDT, 6 February 2014 | Updated: 22:50 EDT, 6 February 2014
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A group of alleged jewellery thieves used Craigslist to lure victims to California where they would rob them of watches and diamonds worth tens of thousands of dollars.
As the FBI closed in on the gang they found a criminal mastermind at the heart of it was an inmate serving 12 years for armed robbery.
When agents searched the prison cell of the inmate, identified only as Confidential Human Source (CHS), they found a contraband phone he had allegedly used to run the scam.
Search: JetBlack The gang allegedly used Craigslist to find victims who were selling valuable watches and jewellery
Members of the gang would allegedly lure sellers across the country, paying for their airfare and a limo to collect them, before driving the victims to a remote location where they would be robbed.
Stolen goods taken in Craigslist heist
The gang is accused of carrying out 18 robberies and attempted robberies. Items taken from Craigslist sellers include:
A $14,000 Rolex Pearlmaster watch
A Cartier watch worth $90,000 which was allegedly sold on for $25,000.
Two 2-carat gems taken from a man who was also selling a $175.000 4-carat diamond. Court papers do not explain why the gang left the larger gem.
A gold Presidential Rolex watch.
In one case, in July last year, a Middle Eastern man flew from Los Angeles to Oakland with a four-carat diamond worth more than $175,000, and two smaller precious stones.
He was intending to sell them to a buyer he had met on Craigslist, and who had paid for his plane fare and limo.
The victim realized he had been scammed when the car, that was supposed to take him to a jeweller's or bank, instead drove to a remote location.
When the car eventually stopped, three men, including one armed with a gun, robbed the victim who was pistol-whipped and left by the roadside.
The case was one of 17 other robberies and attempted robberies listed in a recently released federal search warrant, according to the Daily Dot.
Each time the premise was the same. The gang would pose as buyers on Craigslist, pay for the airfare and limo, then rob the seller at a secluded location.
Mastermind: The robberies were alleged arranged by an inmate of California's Men's Colony Prison
Jewel theft: In one of the robberies, two 2-carat gems, not pictured, were stolen from a man who was also carrying a $175,000 4-carat diamond
A Cartier watch worth $90,000 and two Rolex watches, one taken from a 23-year-old woman and another from an older victim, were among the items stolen.
The FBI were alerted to the gang allegedly behind the heists when two agents on a separate job saw an alleged attempted robbery taking place.
In June last year, two agents in Oakland watched as a man waved down a limo and two other men, including one with a gun, approached it.
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In that case, the driver or potential victim, who had flown in from Denver to sell a diamond, were alerted to the attempted robbery and left before the men could get in the car.
A search of phone records of the men, named in court documents as Keegan Leecodi Cotton Jr, Jaedon Evans and Rafael Davis, showed the intended victim was not the first to be targeted.
Further cellphone records led the FBI to a suspected gang member who was operating out of California's Men's Colony Prison.
When police seized his contraband phone, its browser history and email inbox was filled with allegedly incriminating conversations with other alleged gang members.
The inmate - CHS - had even called Craigslist sellers direct from his cell.
'The browser history on the phone showed the user had been looking at Craigslist sales ads all throughout the country,' Agent Healy wrote in his search warrant affidavit.
'Text messages linked the imprisoned co-conspirator to other identified co-conspirators.'
Stolen: A Rolex Pearlmaster, left, and Presidential watch, similar to the ones pictured, were taken
When agents questioned CHS in December he agreed to cooperate after hearing that his son had been implicated by other gang members who had already been arrested.
Through questioning the FBI was able to monitor Michael Anthony Martin, one of the last remaining members of the gang.
Martin allegedly often arranged the limo rides, often from Avis, to collect potent victims and would either hire an unsuspecting driver or use an accomplice.
In December he is accused of providing a limo during what was a FBI sting. An agent, posing as a potential seller, was picked up by a car allegedly provided by Martin.
The sting was called off when the agent realized the woman driver was one of Martin's accomplices.
After the sting was aborted, Martin called police, saying he needed to know where the limo was because he did not want to accrue extra rental fees, according to documents seen by the Sacramento Bee.
Luxury sting: The gang targeted people selling valuable items such as Cartier watches
Martin was arrested last month after the FBI listened in on calls between him and CHS. Over the course of several conversations, Martin allegedly implicated himself in several robberies, including the violent attack on the man selling the diamond.
Martin allegedly told CHS he had been nervous since the arrest of three gang members in June. According to an affidavit, he 'looked out the window every morning at 5am, had a bag packed, an escape route, and a motorcycle without a tag'.
Shortly afterwards, he was arrested at his Tracy, California home. Police found a pistol there which, because of a previous robbery conviction, he was not allowed to own.
Neighbors of 40-year-old Martin, who lived at the home with his wife and two young children, spoke of their shock at seeing federal agents dressed in fatigues and driving an armored car, searching his home.
Buddy Kirn told CBS Sacramento: 'It's not every day you get the FBI busting down the house. They had percussion grenades.'
According to Agent Healy, CHS offered to help, stating 'that he is hopeful they will give a better deal to his son' if he ends up facing prosecution.
Read more:
How a Craigslist mastermind helped orchestrate jewel heists from prison
Feds make arrests in string of Craigslist jewel heists - The Sacramento Bee
FBI: Tracy Home At Center Of Craigslist Jewelry Heist Conspiracy - CBS Sacramento
Gang 'paid for flights and limo for jewel sellers who would then be driven to remote location and robbed'
FBI began investigating after witnessing attempted robbery while on another stakeout
Cellphone records led them to California inmate accused of finding potential victims online
By Daily Mail Reporter
Published: 22:46 EDT, 6 February 2014 | Updated: 22:50 EDT, 6 February 2014
2
View
comments
A group of alleged jewellery thieves used Craigslist to lure victims to California where they would rob them of watches and diamonds worth tens of thousands of dollars.
As the FBI closed in on the gang they found a criminal mastermind at the heart of it was an inmate serving 12 years for armed robbery.
When agents searched the prison cell of the inmate, identified only as Confidential Human Source (CHS), they found a contraband phone he had allegedly used to run the scam.
Search: JetBlack The gang allegedly used Craigslist to find victims who were selling valuable watches and jewellery
Members of the gang would allegedly lure sellers across the country, paying for their airfare and a limo to collect them, before driving the victims to a remote location where they would be robbed.
Stolen goods taken in Craigslist heist
The gang is accused of carrying out 18 robberies and attempted robberies. Items taken from Craigslist sellers include:
A $14,000 Rolex Pearlmaster watch
A Cartier watch worth $90,000 which was allegedly sold on for $25,000.
Two 2-carat gems taken from a man who was also selling a $175.000 4-carat diamond. Court papers do not explain why the gang left the larger gem.
A gold Presidential Rolex watch.
In one case, in July last year, a Middle Eastern man flew from Los Angeles to Oakland with a four-carat diamond worth more than $175,000, and two smaller precious stones.
He was intending to sell them to a buyer he had met on Craigslist, and who had paid for his plane fare and limo.
The victim realized he had been scammed when the car, that was supposed to take him to a jeweller's or bank, instead drove to a remote location.
When the car eventually stopped, three men, including one armed with a gun, robbed the victim who was pistol-whipped and left by the roadside.
The case was one of 17 other robberies and attempted robberies listed in a recently released federal search warrant, according to the Daily Dot.
Each time the premise was the same. The gang would pose as buyers on Craigslist, pay for the airfare and limo, then rob the seller at a secluded location.
Mastermind: The robberies were alleged arranged by an inmate of California's Men's Colony Prison
Jewel theft: In one of the robberies, two 2-carat gems, not pictured, were stolen from a man who was also carrying a $175,000 4-carat diamond
A Cartier watch worth $90,000 and two Rolex watches, one taken from a 23-year-old woman and another from an older victim, were among the items stolen.
The FBI were alerted to the gang allegedly behind the heists when two agents on a separate job saw an alleged attempted robbery taking place.
In June last year, two agents in Oakland watched as a man waved down a limo and two other men, including one with a gun, approached it.
RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
Next
How selling on your smartphone leaves you vulnerable to... Bank of America sends credit card offer addressed to 'Lisa...
Share this article
Share
In that case, the driver or potential victim, who had flown in from Denver to sell a diamond, were alerted to the attempted robbery and left before the men could get in the car.
A search of phone records of the men, named in court documents as Keegan Leecodi Cotton Jr, Jaedon Evans and Rafael Davis, showed the intended victim was not the first to be targeted.
Further cellphone records led the FBI to a suspected gang member who was operating out of California's Men's Colony Prison.
When police seized his contraband phone, its browser history and email inbox was filled with allegedly incriminating conversations with other alleged gang members.
The inmate - CHS - had even called Craigslist sellers direct from his cell.
'The browser history on the phone showed the user had been looking at Craigslist sales ads all throughout the country,' Agent Healy wrote in his search warrant affidavit.
'Text messages linked the imprisoned co-conspirator to other identified co-conspirators.'
Stolen: A Rolex Pearlmaster, left, and Presidential watch, similar to the ones pictured, were taken
When agents questioned CHS in December he agreed to cooperate after hearing that his son had been implicated by other gang members who had already been arrested.
Through questioning the FBI was able to monitor Michael Anthony Martin, one of the last remaining members of the gang.
Martin allegedly often arranged the limo rides, often from Avis, to collect potent victims and would either hire an unsuspecting driver or use an accomplice.
In December he is accused of providing a limo during what was a FBI sting. An agent, posing as a potential seller, was picked up by a car allegedly provided by Martin.
The sting was called off when the agent realized the woman driver was one of Martin's accomplices.
After the sting was aborted, Martin called police, saying he needed to know where the limo was because he did not want to accrue extra rental fees, according to documents seen by the Sacramento Bee.
Luxury sting: The gang targeted people selling valuable items such as Cartier watches
Martin was arrested last month after the FBI listened in on calls between him and CHS. Over the course of several conversations, Martin allegedly implicated himself in several robberies, including the violent attack on the man selling the diamond.
Martin allegedly told CHS he had been nervous since the arrest of three gang members in June. According to an affidavit, he 'looked out the window every morning at 5am, had a bag packed, an escape route, and a motorcycle without a tag'.
Shortly afterwards, he was arrested at his Tracy, California home. Police found a pistol there which, because of a previous robbery conviction, he was not allowed to own.
Neighbors of 40-year-old Martin, who lived at the home with his wife and two young children, spoke of their shock at seeing federal agents dressed in fatigues and driving an armored car, searching his home.
Buddy Kirn told CBS Sacramento: 'It's not every day you get the FBI busting down the house. They had percussion grenades.'
According to Agent Healy, CHS offered to help, stating 'that he is hopeful they will give a better deal to his son' if he ends up facing prosecution.
Read more:
How a Craigslist mastermind helped orchestrate jewel heists from prison
Feds make arrests in string of Craigslist jewel heists - The Sacramento Bee
FBI: Tracy Home At Center Of Craigslist Jewelry Heist Conspiracy - CBS Sacramento
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