Seven men have been accused in relation to a wave of nationwide robberies that victimized high -profile athletes, including Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, federal officials said on Tuesday.
The conspiracy charge to commit interstate transport of stolen property for each of the seven is in a criminal complaint filed on January 30, but on Tuesday the United States Prosecutor’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced.
The complaint adds four defendants to three previously allegedly related to the investigation of such robberies throughout the country: Jordan Quiroga Sánchez, 22; Bastian Orellano Morales, 23; and Sergio Ortega Cabello, 38.
The other four defendants are Pablo Zuniga Cartes, 24; Ignacio Zuniga Cartes, 20; Alexander Huiaguil Chávez, 24; and Bastian Jiménez Freraut, 27.
It is not clear if any of the defendants have obtained lawyers. The Federal Public Defender in Tampa, Florida, where the case was presented, did not immediately respond to a request for comments on Tuesday night.
Four of the defendants, Cabello, Chávez, Morales and Sánchez, declared innocent of the initial positions in Ohio to participate in a criminal gang, participating in a pattern of corrupt activity, obstructing official businesses and possession of criminal tools, according to judicial records .
In his statement, the United States prosecutor’s office for the Middle District of Florida claimed that the seven were part of a South America robbery team that victimized high profile athletes throughout the country. Each of the defendants is from Chile.
If it is convicted, each one could spend up to 10 years in a federal prison, prosecutors said.
The United States Prosecutor’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said the defendants were connected with robberies that resulted in the theft of $ 2 million in goods.
Without specifically identifying the victims, the office used a language that indicated that the robberies of the beginning of October in the houses of Kansas City Chiefs to the closed wing Travis Kelce and the field marshal Patrick Mahomes were part of the wave, saying that the residences from the Kansas City area of two Chiefs players were bordered on October 5 and October 7.
In addition, according to the statement, the seven are also connected to the breakage of November 2, 2024 at the Wisconsin house of a Milwaukee Bucks player while I was at work in a game. Watches, chains, jewelry, a designer suitcase, designer bags, effective and a safe that obtained some of those items, together for a value of almost $ 1.5 million, was stolen, the office said.
The information corresponds to a robbery in the home of Bucks Bobby Portis Jr.
Pablo Zuniga Cartes, Ignacio Zuniga Cartes, Freraut and a fourth person who was not appointed for a photo with the safe and some of the products later, according to the office in his statement.
The office alleged another robbery, a robbery on December 9 in the Cincinnati area, victimized a player from the Cincinnati Bengals, taking approximately $ 300,000 in goods, the office said in its statement. The information corresponds to the theft of the residence of Joe Burrow, who was in Arlington, Texas, helping his team beat the Dallas Cowboys 27-20 at that time.
The United States prosecutor’s office claimed that the defendant hair rented the vehicle used in Ohio’s theft.
He also victimized a basketball player from Memphis Grizzlies whose house was raped on December 20, while playing a game at home, and the progress of October 21 at the house of a player of Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
According to the presentation, the suspects entered the Buccaneers player’s house when breaking a window, stealing jewels, Rolex watches, a Louis Vuitton suitcase and a firearm worth more than $ 167,000.
In that case and that of the Grizzlies player, the identities of the victims have not been made public.
In all cases related to the seven, said the office of the United States prosecutor, the athletes were “outside or playing in professional games in the time of theft.”
Since the fall of last year, the NFL, the NBA and the FBI have warned the high profile athletes about thieves who have attacked the houses of the star players.
But the authorities, from San Diego County to New York City, have investigated and prosecuted similar cases that, they say, are connected to a wave of theft of coast to coast that point to houses of the rich (athletes, celebrities and rich people simply) and it is believed to be carried out by South American criminal crews.
When announcing the successful prosecution last year of accused of Chile and Italy, who stole a house on the southern coast of California, the San Diego district prosecutor, Summer Stephan, said that the defendants arrived in the states United for “stolen tourism”.
Todd Spitzer, Orange County District Prosecutor, California, said that a US Visa Exemption Program. UU., The electronic system for travel authorization (East), allows criminals to enter the United States with A 90 -day pass. The automated system gives permission to the citizens of 42 nations to enter and remain with relative ease.
“During the last 18 months, I have been playing the alarm on a dangerous escape in the visa exemption program that is being exploited by organized crimes rings in Chile to enter the unlimited times of the United States during a period of two Years without background verifications, “Spitzer said in January.
“These criminals do not come to the United States to visit Disneyland,” he said.
On Tuesday, a source of application of the law familiar with the matter reported that the house of Los Angeles of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban was stolen on Valentine’s Day, although no connection with the wave has yet been made.
