Home Newark Press Releases 2010 Ninth Member of Perfume Warehouse Armed Robbery Scheme Involving NYPD Officers Pleads Guilty
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Ninth Member of Perfume Warehouse Armed Robbery Scheme Involving NYPD Officers Pleads Guilty

U.S. Attorney’s Office October 18, 2010
  • District of New Jersey (973) 645-2888

NEWARK, NJ—Anselmo Jimenes, 30, of Brooklyn, N.Y., pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit the armed robbery of a Carlstadt, New Jersey perfume warehouse in which he, together with three active New York Police Department officers, one former NYPD officer and others stole approximately $600,000 in perfume while holding 11 employees hostage, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Jimenes entered his guilty plea to two counts of the Superseding Indictment against him before United States District Judge William H. Walls. In addition to the conspiracy charge, Jimenes pleaded guilty to one count of transporting stolen goods in interstate commerce—stemming from a separate burglary he committed of a storage facility in North Brunswick, N.J. The defendant was remanded pending sentencing, scheduled for January 24, 2011.

According to the documents filed in this and related cases and statements made in Newark federal court:

Jimenes was originally arrested by the Carlstadt Police Department on February 9, 2010, after attempting to flee from the robbery site in Carlstadt. He was taken into custody by federal authorities on March 5, 2010, pursuant to a criminal Complaint, and later charged in a Superseding Indictment unsealed the same day—along with NYPD Officer Kelvin L. Jones and Luis Reyes of New York; and Danny Bannout of Brooklyn. NYPD Officers Brian Checo and Richard LeBlanca of New York; former NYPD Officer Orlando Garcia of New York; and Gabriel Vargas, Alan Bannout, and Luis R. Morales of Brooklyn were also charged by Criminal Complaint on March 5 for their participation in the heist.

Jimenes admitted that in February 2010, he conspired with the other defendants to rob the Carlstadt warehouse, used by a company known as In-Style USA, Inc. As part of the conspiracy, Jimenes hired approximately 16 day laborers to assist he and his co-conspirators in loading the boxes of perfume onto four box trucks rented to transport the stolen merchandise. Jimenes also admitted that he and some of the other members of the robbery crew previously stole merchandise from a storage unit located in North Brunswick, N.J., and then transported the stolen merchandise to New York.

Jimenes pled guilty to one count of robbery conspiracy, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, and one count of transportation of stolen goods, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.

Checo pled guilty on March 23, 2010, to conspiring to commit the armed robbery. LeBlanca, Garcia, Morales and Reyes pleaded guilty on April 20, April 26, May 26, and October 13, 2010, respectively, to the same charge. On May 5, May 18 and August 12, 2010, respectively, Alan Bannout, Gabriel Vargas and Danny Bannout pleaded guilty to the robbery conspiracy, as well as to one count of transporting stolen goods in interstate commerce following their burglary of the storage unit in North Brunswick. All the defendants entered their guilty pleas before Judge Walls.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, for conducting the investigation. Fishman also thanked the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of John L. Molinelli, as well as the Carlstadt Police Department and the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, for their assistance in the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric T. Kanefsky and Christopher J. Gramiccioni of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division.

As for defendant Jones, the charges and allegations against him are merely accusations and he is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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