Pawn store proprietor admits to promoting Joe Burrow’s stolen property

A New York Metropolis pawn store proprietor has pleaded responsible to purchasing and promoting luxurious gadgets stolen by a nationwide housebreaking crew whose victims embody Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, in response to the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace within the Japanese District of New York.

Burrow was taking part in a highway sport in December in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys when gadgets had been stolen from his house. An FBI criticism unsealed in February, figuring out Burrow solely as “Athlete 5,” listed the full worth of things stolen at round $300,000.

The sample of athletes’ houses being burglarized whereas they had been publicly scheduled elsewhere consists of Kansas Metropolis Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and NBA stars Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers and Mike Conley of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The pawn store proprietor, Dimitriy Nezhinskiy, 43, of North Bergen, New Jersey, pleaded responsible Friday to 1 depend of conspiracy to obtain stolen property in a Brooklyn federal court docket. He admitted knowingly buying stolen property, together with high-end watches, jewellery and purses.

Nezhinskiy, whose sentencing date has not been decided, faces a most of 5 years in jail and restitution of roughly $2.5 million and forfeiture of greater than $2.5 million. As well as, as a result of he’s from the nation of Georgia whereas legally residing in the USA, Nezhinskiy faces federal expenses and the potential of deportation, District Decide William F. Kuntz stated.

“This defendant ran a black-market pipeline, shopping for stolen luxurious items from organized theft crews that focused houses and companies,” New York Metropolis Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated in an announcement Friday. “It was a deliberate operation that helped skilled burglars prey on harmless individuals.”

Co-defendant Juan Villar, 48, who co-managed the pawn store, pleaded responsible in June to the identical cost, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace stated Friday. The 2 males had labored collectively since 2020, in response to the discharge, as “fences” to obtain and purchase stolen items from exterior of New York. Villar, of Queens, is also awaiting sentencing.

“For greater than 5 years, Dimitriy Nezhinskiy established a requirement for stolen merchandise, which allowed South American Theft Teams to revenue from repeated burglaries,” FBI Assistant Director in Cost Christopher Raia stated in an announcement. “His purchases perpetuated a ripple of criminality concentrating on residences and enterprise throughout the nation.”

The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace stated South American theft teams traveled the USA and focused houses in prosperous neighborhoods in addition to jewellery distributors. The investigation involving a number of states has resulted in six arrests.

Nezhinskiy and Villar weren’t charged with particular burglaries. Police searched the pawn store and storage items owned by Nezhinskiy in New Jersey and located suspected stolen property together with sports activities memorabilia, art work and high-quality wine, in addition to luxurious items, clothes and “energy instruments in step with these generally utilized in burglaries and opening safes,” in response to the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace.

Three males arrested in a sequence of burglaries, together with the considered one of Burrow’s house, had been indicted in February by a federal grand jury in Cincinnati, in response to the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Ohio.

Burrow stated within the newest season of the Netflix present “Quarterback” that was launched earlier this month that he canceled the acquisition of a reproduction, totally functioning Batmobile following the housebreaking of his house.

“I simply get very uncomfortable,” Burrow instructed the present. “My life could be very public. That comes with the job, however there’s sure components of your life which might be yours. Your own home is a kind of.”

Info from ESPN’s Ben Child and Area Stage Media was used on this report.