Conspirator Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Owings Mills Jewelry Store Heist that Included a Carjacking and Kidnapping

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Peter Aleksandrov Magnis, age 28, of Hydes, Maryland, today to seven years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a robbery conspiracy in connection with the robbery of a jewelry store, including a carjacking and kidnapping.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Kevin Perkins 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 his plea agreement, Magnis was part of a conspiracy to rob an Owings Mills jewelry store.  Specifically, in the fall of 2012, Stanislav “Steven” Yelizarov devised a plan to commit an armed robbery of a jewelry store, known to be owned and operated by members of the Russian community of Northwest Baltimore.  S. Yelizarov recruited Magnis, Grigory Zilberman, Aleksy Sosonko, Igor Yasinov, his brother Marat Yelizarov, Sorhib Omonov, and others to participate in the robbery.  Prior to the robbery, the conspirators gathered intelligence, including conducting surveillance and attaching a GPS device to the car of an employee of the jewelry store in order to learn the employee’s travel routine and habits.  Zilberman also exploited his friendship with the employee to obtain information about the operation of the jewelry store and the habits of the employee. 

According to Magnis’ plea agreement and court documents, on January 15, 2013, Zilberman enticed the employee to visit his home, in order to alert the other co-conspirators of the employee’s whereabouts.  While the employee was at Zilberman’s home, the conspirators met at S. Yelizarov’s residence to prepare for the kidnapping and robbery, including preparing the firearms and donning masks and gloves. Early in the morning on January 16, 2013, M. Yelizarov and Omonov followed the employee from Zilberman’s home and notified the other conspirators of the employee’s location so they could then follow the employee. S. Yelizarov, Sosonko, Yasinov, and Magnis driving in a rental car obtained by Yasinov, used a law enforcement-type light bar and a loudspeaker to impersonate a police officer and pull over the employee. Brandishing firearms which were supplied by S. Yelizarov, the conspirators removed the employee from his car, bound and blindfolded the employee, put him into the trunk of his own car, and drove him to a predetermined location.

According to the plea agreement and court documents, once at the location, the co-conspirators continued to brandish firearms and threatened to kill the employee’s family if he did not comply with their demands or if he reported the incident to police. The employee complied and at approximately 3:52 a.m., S. Yelizarov and Sosonko drove the employee’s vehicle from the remote location to the jewelry store, while Yasinov and Magnis stayed with the employee, holding him bound and blindfolded at gunpoint.  M. Yelizarov and Omonov were stationed near the jewelry store to act as “look-outs.”  S. Yelizarov and Sosonko entered the store and stole jewelry, stones, and watches, valued at about $500,000, then drove back to the remote location. The employee was placed back into the trunk of his car and driven to another location, where he was left. The employee was able to kick his way out of the trunk through the back seat of his car.the trunk through the back seat of his car.

On January 18, 2013, S. Yelizarov sold a portion of the stolen jewelry for approximately $29,000 to an FBI informant.  On January 19, 2013, S. Yelizarov traveled to Brooklyn, New York to sell some of the jewelry and stones taken during the robbery, receiving over $100,000. On January 21, 2013, he returned to Maryland and divided the cash proceeds among the members of the conspiracy and others.

On November 19, 2014, during the search of Magnis’ residence and the adjacent property, a bag of guns was found buried on the adjacent property within 20 feet of Magnis’ property.  Inside the bag were six firearms (all rifles and shotguns), each individually wrapped in clear plastic wrap.  Two of the firearms were sawed off shotguns, and one of these had an obliterated serial number.  Both of those guns were stolen during an armed home invasion of a residence in Reisterstown, Maryland, on July 22, 2012.  S. Yelizarov, M. Yelizarov, Sosonko and Zilberman admitted to committing that robbery.

In addition, in January and May 2013 Magnis purchased three handguns.  One of those handguns was seized during a car stop and search of Yasinov in September 2013.  Yasinov was prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms due to a previous felony conviction.

Stanislav Yelizarov, age 26, and Marat Yelizarov, age 27, both of Pikesville; Grigoriy (Greg) Zilberman, age 25, and Aleksey Sosonko, age 35, both of Owings Mills, Maryland; Peter Aleksandrov Magnis, age 28, of Hydes, Maryland; and Igor Yasinov, age 26, and Sorhib Omonov, age 27, both of Baltimore, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the robbery conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.

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 and Aaron S. J. Zelinsky, who are prosecuting the case.