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NORRISTOWN — Four New York men with ties to a “sophisticated” South American theft ring, which was dismantled by detectives from Abington Township and Montgomery County, are headed to prison for taking part in residential break-ins that targeted Asian business owners in multiple counties.
Juan Guerrero-Acosta, 26, of Queens, N.Y, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 4 to 10 years in a state correctional institution after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, burglary and attempted burglary in connection with incidents that occurred between July and October 2024, in Montgomery, Berks, Chester, Delaware, Bucks, Lehigh, Lancaster, Northampton and Cambria counties.
Roger Pinilla-Pardo, 22, of Fresh Meadows, N.Y., was sentenced to 3½ to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to corrupt organizations, burglary and attempted burglary charges.
Juan Meneses-Munoz, 19, of College Point, N.Y., and Misael Angel Sanchez, 52, of Rego Park, N.Y., were sentenced to 4 to 10 years in prison after they pleaded guilty to corrupt organization and burglary-related charges.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman imposed the sentences as part of plea agreements. The men, who are Colombian Nationals, likely will face federal immigration and deportation proceedings after they serve their sentences.
Guerrero-Acosta, Pinilla-Pardo, Meneses-Munoz and Sanchez were among 11 men, all Colombian Nationals who lived in the area of Queens, N.Y., charged in connection with the theft ring last year. Several others are still awaiting court action.
“They would stalk these homes and work together. They would have people stand guard and watch the locations while others would go inside and take jewelry and any items they wanted, and they did this multiple times throughout the state of Pennsylvania,” said Assistant District Attorney Gabriella Eileen Glenning, who sought the prison sentences for the four men.
Glenning said prison terms were warranted because the members of the theft ring attacked the homeowners’ vulnerabilities. The homeowners were not home during the burglaries, and no one was injured during the break-ins.
“These are completely selfish acts, and by burglarizing someone’s home, you are violating the safety of their home in a very personal way,” Glenning added. “It was a crime of pure greed and selfishness.”
The theft ring was responsible for 13 residential burglaries and three attempted burglaries. Restitution, to be shared among all of the defendants, reached $318,807.
The thieves targeted 13 homes in Abington, Horsham, Lower Merion, and Towamencin townships in Montgomery County; in West Goshen and Birmingham townships in Chester County; in Lower Alsace Township in Berks County; in Manheim Township in Lancaster County; in Adams Township, Cambria County; and in Bethlehem, Northampton County.
The thieves stole jewelry, cash, designer handbags and other household items.
The three attempted break-ins occurred in Warminster, Bucks County, Allentown, Lehigh County, and Media, Delaware County.
In court documents, detectives alleged the thieves picked their targets “because of the belief that Asian-American business owners keep large amounts of cash inside their homes.” In addition to Montgomery County, the criminal organization has been operating in other states, including New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Ohio, according to detectives.
“The scariest part of this was the surveillance of the homes they were doing beforehand. They would set up cameras outside the homes and watch a family’s pattern of movement. To know you are just going about your day, unaware that there is a camera hidden on your front lawn, is terrifying,” Glenning said.
Wireless cameras were utilized by the group. For example, an Asian homeowner in Allentown “found a box disguised in fake grass near his front door,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Montgomery County Detective Steve Fink and Abington detectives Dan Bullock and Robert Hill Jr.
Detectives said members of the organization would send out advance teams “to deploy remote cameras…which can then be monitored by the crews to determine when the residents leave their home.”
“The members will even travel to the business of the homeowner to make sure they are at their place of business, sometimes even sending a photo of the targets at their business to the other members of the organization,” Fink, Bullock and Hill alleged.
Each member played a role in the organization, either by conducting research and planning, scheduling and providing manpower, vehicles and various instruments of crime, acting as a lookout, conducting surveillance, breaking into homes or selling the stolen proceeds, detectives said.
The members who conducted research and surveillance of the intended targets conducted their roles “with high quality attention to detail,” according to detectives.
The members utilized various disguises and ruses, including posing as joggers, landscapers or food delivery drivers as they canvassed victims’ neighborhoods.
“The results of their planning are similar to the way a professional law enforcement agency would plan an operation, with maps and tactically placed assignments of personnel,” Fink, Bullock and Hill alleged.
More than 100 Asian owned businesses, such as Chinese and Japanese restaurants, nail salons and food markets, were researched by the organization. The owners were then searched through public databases and landowner records.
“This criminal organization focuses on Asian sounding names to further research as potential targets,” detectives alleged.
“These crimes were not random, but rather the part of a pattern used by a sophisticated and ongoing burglary ring that utilized similar techniques, strategies, technologies, and personnel for dozens of crimes across several jurisdictions,” Fink, Bullock and Hill alleged in court papers.
Glenning praised the work of investigators who dismantled the ring.
“Multiple jurisdictions throughout the state were a part of this investigation. But it was really Abington police and county detectives who took the lead. All three of the detectives who worked on this case worked tirelessly to ensure that there would be justice for these victims,” Glenning said.