Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that seven people have been indicted on charges that they were part of an organized retail theft ring that allegedly stole over $800,000 in jewelry in New Jersey and five other states.
The defendants were charged as a result of “Operation Pandora,” an investigation by the New Jersey State Police and Division of Criminal Justice that began in May 2014, after the ring allegedly stole $219,000 in silver beads by breaking into a vehicle at the Clara Barton service area on the New Jersey Turnpike in Salem County.
Several of the defendants allegedly had followed the two victims, who stopped at the service area after a jewelry trade show in Mt. Laurel.
The indictment charges the four men and three women with eight thefts in New Jersey, including two additional thefts of jewelry with a total value of more than $150,000, as well as retail thefts of cameras and a $5,700 bicycle.
The defendants were linked to more than a dozen other thefts in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia and Rhode Island, including jewelry thefts in all of those states involving more than $430,000 in jewelry.
The indictment was returned on Monday, July 27, but was sealed by the court until Wednesday.
The following seven defendants were indicted on second-degree charges of racketeering and conspiracy:
1. Nestor Raul Avila-Martinez, 25, of Middle Village, N.Y,
2. Kevin A. Rodriguez, 24, of Queens, N.Y.,
3. Angie T. Rodriguez, 28, of Flushing, N.Y.,
4. Juan Carlos Ramirez, 35, of Queens, N.Y.,
5. Omaira L. Reina-Martinez, 21, of Maspeth, N.Y.,
6. Bryan Osorio, 26, of Queens, N.Y., and
7. an Unidentified Woman known only as “Gisele.”
All of the defendants except Angie Rodriguez also are charged with second-degree shoplifting and one or more counts of third-degree theft. Shoplifting is graded as a second-degree crime under New Jersey law when it involves thefts totaling more than $1,000 in merchandise committed as part of an organized retail theft enterprise.
In addition, Avila-Martinez, Kevin Rodriguez, Angie Rodriguez and Gisele are charged with second-degree theft and third-degree burglary in relation to the Turnpike theft.
The alleged thefts committed by the ring in New Jersey included thefts that occurred at two jewelry stores in Robbinsville in Mercer County.
On Oct. 30, 2013, ring members including Osorio allegedly stole approximately $100,000 in loose diamonds from Tindall Diamonds in Robbinsville by distracting a clerk and reaching over a display counter to grab the diamonds.
On Sept. 6, 2014, more than $50,000 worth of Pandora trademark jewelry was stolen by crew members from a case at Gifted Jewelry in Robbinsville.
The crew members who committed that theft allegedly included Avila-Martinez, Kevin Rodriguez and Reina-Martinez.
Avila-Martinez, Kevin Rodriguez, Osorio and Reina-Martinez currently are in custody. The other identified defendants are being sought on arrest warrants as fugitives.
Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000, while third-degree crimes carry a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.
The indictment was handed up to Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson in Mercer County, who assigned the case to Mercer County, where the defendants will be ordered to appear in court for arraignment at a later date.