SoCal man to plead guilty to so-called largest jewelry heist in U.S. history
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - A Pasadena man who allegedly broke into a Brinks truck and stole nearly $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and watches in what officials consider the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge, according to court papers obtained today.
Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 32, is expected to plead guilty to a single count of interference with commerce by robbery on Nov. 19 in federal court in Riverside.
The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment, plus a period of supervised release and restitution to be determined.
According to his plea agreement, filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court, on the evening of July 10, 2022, Mestanza and co-defendants scouted a Brinks semi-trailer truck leaving an international jewelry show in San Mateo with 73 bags containing millions of dollars of jewelry. From that evening to the next morning, the conspirators and associates followed the Brinks truck nearly 300 miles from the jewelry show to rest stops in Buttonwillow and Lebec, north of Los Angeles, the document states.
While the truck was stopped in Lebec, authorities believe the defendants stole two dozen bags containing nearly $100 million of jewelry. In the following days, Mestanza and the others deactivated their phone numbers that they had been using during the heist, court papers show.
The culprits returned to Los Angeles County with the stolen merchandise to divide up and sell, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Mestanza and the others are also alleged to have stolen $240,573 worth of Samsung electronics from an interstate cargo shipment in Ontario on March 2, 2022. Those defendants allegedly then robbed a box truck driver of $57,377 worth of Apple AirTags. One of the robbers brandished a knife and
threatened the driver, prosecutors allege.
Then, on May 25, 2022, the defendants allegedly attempted to break into a truck at a Fontana rest stop using a crowbar. Shortly after, prosecutors contend, the same defendants successfully stole nearly $14,081 worth of Samsung electronics from another interstate shipment in Fontana.
After the federal indictment against him was made public in June 2025, Mestanza allegedly made internet searches looking for information about defendants like himself wanted by the police, Interpol and Ecuadorian authorities. After traveling to Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and Canada, Mestanza was picked up on July 1, 2025, at the international airport in Panama City, Panama, during a layover from Guatemala to Ecuador, according to his plea agreement.
Three of Mestanza's co-defendants are scheduled for trial in March in downtown Los Angeles. Law enforcement officials are searching for two others, while a seventh defendant was deported, officials said.
