Criminal complaint indicates that seven Chileans have been accused in a federal court in Florida for orchestrating robberies in the houses of prominent professional athletes throughout the US.
Seven Chileans have been accused in a federal court in the state of Florida, of Orchestar Robos in the houses of prominent professional athletes throughout the country, according to a criminal complaint.
The FBI's complaint does not identify athletes by name, but mentions the robberies already publicly known, which affected Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, of the Kansas City Chiefs; Joe Burrow, of the Cincinnati Bengals, as well as to the Buccaneers players of Tampa Bay, also of the NFL, and the Bucks of Milwaukee and Grizzlies of Memphis of the NBA.
According to the complaint, the defendants are part of a band of thieves that “is known for aiming against prominent professional athletes when you know they are away from home.”
Individuals supposedly stole around two million dollars in watches, jewelry, effective and other valuables, including a safe that they later managed to open.
Each defendant faces plot charges for interstate transport of stolen property, which entails a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. It was not clear on Wednesday if they are in custody, and the records of the Federal Court of Tampa do not mention lawyers for any of them.
The defendants are Pablo Zúñiga Cartes, 24 years old; Ignacio Zúñiga Cartes, 20; Bastian Jiménez Freraut, 27; Jordan Quiroga Sánchez, 22; Bastian Orellano Morales, 23; Alexander Huiaguil Chávez, 24, and Sergio Ortega Cabello, 38. Although the FBI identifies them as Chileans in the accusation documents, it does not say if anyone is an American citizen or is legally in the country.
Some were arrested in January after an apparent traffic infraction in Ohio. Then, state charges were supposed to have broken into Burrow's house, the Buskish Marshal.
In that case, it was found that four of the subjects were in the country illegally, according to an affidavit that was presented in Clark County, Ohio.
Federal charges in Tampa were presented on January 30.
Much of the evidence presented in the FBI complaint comes from cell phone data, surveillance videos and registration readers that supposedly place the defendants in the vicinity of the places where the robberies were committed.
They generally used rudimentary methods, such as breaking windows or forcing sliding glass doors with levers.
The thieves, according to the affidavit of the FBI, “approached the residences from a place that allowed them to hide, as a wooded or dark area” before breaking into the houses.
An unidentified Buccaneers player suffered the theft of properties for around $ 167,000, including an rolex watch, a suitcase Luis Vuitton, jewelry and a gun.
Bobby Portis, a Bucks player whose house was stolen, said in Wednesday's practice that it was good to know that some arrests had been made.
“That said, you put all the effort you can in the game, and then you get home and all your belongings have disappeared – things you worked hard. It is a bit rewarding that these guys have been trapped, obviously, because you work very hard for your things, ”said Portis.
Some members of the group took photos of themselves with part of the loot. The FBI included the images in the criminal complaint.
In one case, a suspect is seen wearing a chief t -shirt. Groups are often separated into smaller units to commit multiple robberies, according to the FBI.
“Although thieves groups can consist of four or five members, these separate groups often work together, they communicate with each other and (use) the same buyers of stolen merchandise,” says the Affidavit of the FBI.