Calif. Man Admits to $2.6 Million Smash-and-Grab Jewelry Robbery He Documented on Instagram
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10/01/2024 04:29 PM
Among the jewelry stolen in the heist were eight rings, 19 bracelets and 20 watches, per the plea agreement obtained by PEOPLE
Richard Vogel/AP
Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills in Los Angeles was boarded up on March 23, 2022, in the hours following the jewelry heist.A California man has admitted to taking part in a lucrative smash-and-grab jewelry heist in Beverly Hills, which authorities say he later bragged about on Instagram.
Ladell Tharpe pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery in the Central District of California's U.S. District Court on Monday, Sept. 30, according to his online federal court docket.
The 39-year-old said in his signed plea agreement, obtained by PEOPLE, that he led a group of co-conspirators in a fleet of vehicles to Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills, where they "used heavy tools to smash" open the display case and steal $2,674,600 of jewelry in broad daylight on March 23, 2022.
United States Attorney of the Central District of California
Two days after the heist, Ladell Tharpe allegedly posted to Instagram a group of men partying with cash.Among the items he admitted to stealing — in front of employees and customers — were "at least 19 bracelets, seven pairs of earrings, four necklaces, a pair of obelisks, eight rings, and 20 watches," according to the plea agreement.
Tharpe admitted to conducting surveillance and acting as a lookout, per the 17-page agreement.
After fleeing, Tharpe posted a series of pictures on Instagram, in which prosecutors alleged in his criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE that he "flouts" his "robbery profits" with "numerous photos corroborating his involvement in the robbery," per the complaint.
In one photo, Tharpe was allegedly pictured with a group of men "all holding large stacks of cash," per the complaint. In another Tharpe allegedly posted a photograph of a man holding "an extremely large stack of rubber banded cash" captioned per the complaint "#MOOD," and a third depicted reams of bills and was captioned "BENZES & TRACKHAWKS," in a likely reference to luxury vehicles.
United States Attorney of the Central District of California
On March 25, 2022, Ladell Tharpe allegedly bragged on Instagram about his "Robbery Gang."Investigators later tracked the phones of Tharpe, as well as Jimmy Lee Vernon III and Deshon James Bell — who have both pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery — toward the crime scene.
On the day of the burglary, surveillance footage caught five people get out of the vehicles – all dressed in sweatpants and sweatshirts with "hoods up" and "all holding various tools," including crowbars, per the complaint.
Vernon's phone then dropped from his sweatpants pocket as the men allegedly smashed through the display case, per the cited footage. (Seven days later, Vernon allegedly contacted his probation officer to change his contact number.)
Long Beach police also contacted Beverly Hills police, noting that the "modus operandi of the robbery matched several smash and grabs in Long Beach in recent weeks," per the complaint. Long Beach police suggested that Tharpe might be involved.
Tharpe – who faces as much as 20 years in federal prison – is slated for sentencing under Judge George H Wu on January 6, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. His lawyer, Patrick William McLaughlin, did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Bell was sentenced in February to one year and one day behind bars and ordered to pay back the more than $2 million in restitution, per prosecutors. Vernon is slated for sentencing Dec. 5.
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