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Press Release

Six Indicted for Jewelry Store Heist that Included a Carjacking and Kidnapping

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland

Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has indicted six men in connection with a conspiracy to rob a jewelry store that included a carjacking and kidnapping.  The indictment was returned on May 12, 2015 and unsealed today.

The following individuals are charged in the indictment:

            Stanislav (Steven) Yelizarov, age 25, of Pikesville, Maryland;
            Alexsey (Losha) Sosonko, age 34, of Owings Mills, Maryland;
            Igor Yasinov, age 25, of Baltimore;
            Grigoriy (Greg) Zilberman, age 24, of Owings Mills;
            Peter Magnis, age 27, of Hydes, Maryland; and
            Marat (Mike) Yelizarov, age 26, of Pikesville.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department; and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger.        

According to the six count indictment, from November 2012, through February 2013, the defendants planned and organized the robbery of an Owings Mills jewelry store, in order to sell the stolen goods for cash.

The indictment alleges that the defendants gathered intelligence, including conducting surveillance and the use of a GPS device that was attached to the car of an employee of the jewelry store, prior to the robbery in order to learn the employee’s travel routine and habits.  According to the indictment, on January 16, 2013, as the employee was driving from Zilberman’s home, S. Yelizarov, Sosonko, Yasinov, and Magnis drove a rented SUV and used a law enforcement-type light bar and a loudspeaker to impersonate a police officer and pull over the employee. Brandishing firearms, the defendants allegedly removed the employee from his car, taking his car keys and the keys to the jewelry store. S.Yelizarov, Sosonko, Yasinov, and Magnis allegedly bound and blindfolded the employee, put him into the trunk of his own car and drove him to a predetermined location.  According to the indictment, once at the location, S.Yelizarov, Sosonko, Yasinov, and Magnis brandished firearms and demanded the code to the jewelry store’s alarm system.  During the abduction and robbery the defendants allegedly wore masks and gloves to conceal their identities.

At approximately 3:52 a.m., the indictment alleges that S. Yelizarov and Sosonko drove the employee’s vehicle from the remote location to the jewelry store, where M. Yelizarov and another person were stationed nearby to act as “look-outs.”  S. Yelizarov and Sosonko allegedly used the employee’s key and the alarm code forcibly obtained from the employee to enter the jewelry store.  Jewelry, stones and watches, valued at about $500,000, were stolen from the store.

The indictment alleges that over the next few days, S. Yelizarov sold a portion of the items stolen from the jewelry store, both in Maryland and in Brooklyn, New York, receiving in excess of $129,000 in cash, which S. Yelizarov divided among the conspirators and others.  According to the indictment, at the direction of S. Yelizarov, M. Yelizarov, Sosonko, and others removed guns and other evidence of the crimes from S. Yelizarov’s residence.

The defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the kidnapping conspiracy and the kidnapping and for carrying and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. The defendants each face 15 years in prison for the carjacking.  Initial appearances were held today for Sosonko and M. Yelizarov in U.S. District Court in Baltimore and they were detained pending detention hearings scheduled for May 26, 2015 and May 21, 2015, respectively. Zilberman is scheduled to have his initial appearance on May 21, 2015.  S. Yelizarov, Yasinov and Magnis are currently detained on unrelated state charges.  Their initial appearances on the federal indictment will be scheduled for some time in June.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI, Baltimore County Police Department, and Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorney Paul E. Budlow, who is prosecuting the case.

Updated May 20, 2015

Topic
Violent Crime