Overview

• Dimitriy Nezhinskiy pleaded guilty last Friday in Brooklyn federal court to one count of conspiracy to receive stolen property after admitting he knowingly bought and sold high-end watches, jewelry and handbags stolen by a national burglary crew.
• He faces up to five years in prison, restitution and forfeiture exceeding $2.5 million, and potential deportation under sentencing overseen by Judge William F. Kuntz.
• Co-defendant Juan Villar entered a guilty plea in June to the same charge and is awaiting sentencing after serving alongside Nezhinskiy as a key “fence” for the theft network since 2020.
• Investigators say the ring used drones, signal jammers and athletes’ public game schedules to target homes of Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Luka Doncic and others before moving stolen goods through New York City pawnshops and New Jersey storage units.
• Federal authorities have secured six arrests so far and unsealed indictments against South American Theft Group members, with prosecutions ongoing to dismantle the remaining operatives.