Ecuadorian Man Admits Guilt in Record $100 Million California Jewelry Heist

Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado has agreed to plead guilty to a federal robbery charge for his role in the theft of roughly $100 million in jewelry from an armoured truck in California five years ago. The 32-year-old Ecuadorian national signed a plea agreement to face a single count of interference with commerce by robbery, a felony carrying a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The Robbery

The heist took place on July 11, 2022, when Mestanza and six other men targeted a Brink's truck parked at a highway rest stop in Kern County north of Los Angeles. The vehicle was carrying 73 sacks of precious gems and fine jewelry from an exhibition in the San Francisco Bay Area to a storage facility ahead of a show in Pasadena. The gang had followed the shipment for 300 miles while coordinating by cellphone before breaking the truck's locks and stealing 24 bags of treasure containing gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and luxury watches. Prosecutors stated this stands as the largest jewelry heist in United States history.

Legal Outcome

Under the plea deal filed in court, prosecutors will drop several other charges against Mestanza, who is scheduled to formally enter his guilty plea at a hearing on November 19. He is expected to face immediate deportation after serving his prison sentence. Court documents also show Mestanza admitted to participating in the highway robberies of electronics shipped by several trucks in March 2022. Of his co-defendants, three are set for trial in federal court in Los Angeles in March 2027, two remain at large, and a seventh member has been deported. Court records did not indicate whether any of the stolen jewelry has been recovered.

Context

High-value cargo thefts often involve extensive surveillance and precise timing by organized groups targeting transit vehicles. Armoured truck robberies of this scale are extremely rare and require federal law enforcement intervention across multiple jurisdictions.