Member of Interstate Cargo Theft Conspiracy Found Guilty at Federal Trial

NEW ALBANY- A federal jury has found Juan D. Perez-Gonzalez, 51, of Florida, guilty of conspiracy, possession of goods stolen from interstate commerce, and interstate transportation of stolen property for his role in a year-long conspiracy to steal millions of dollars in high-end electronics and other products from shipping facilities and cargo trucks in southern Indiana and other states. 

Five co-conspirators in this case have entered guilty pleas for their roles in the operation and will be sentenced at later dates: 

According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, between December 2021 and May 2023, Perez-Gonzalez and his co-conspirators conspired to steal tractor-trailers containing commercially available, high-end electronics and other items, which they later resold at a discount for profit. 

The co-conspirators traveled from various locations, including Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio to target various distribution facilities used by national companies such as Meta, Microsoft, and L Brands. The group surveilled these facilities and followed semi-tractor trailers as they departed. When a driver stopped to rest, refuel, or park, the conspirators stole the entire tractor-trailer.  

In many instances, the group abandoned the stolen tractor nearby and reattached the trailer to a different semi-tractor they operated. To evade law enforcement, they painted over logos and identifying numbers and use different license plates on the solen trailers. 

They transported the stolen cargo to Miami, Florida, where it was sold to buyers, including co-defendant Richard Alameda, for a fraction of its retail value. The group carried out at least 14 separate cargo thefts, resulting in the theft of over $2 million in Oculus virtual reality headsets from a Meta facility, $940,000 in Microsoft products, $1 million in Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret merchandise, $669,000 in Harmon-JBL audio products, $180,000 in Logitech products, and $480,000 worth of Bose audio speakers, among other stolen items. 

This is Perez-Gonzalez’s third federal conviction for cargo theft. First, in 2009, he stole two semi-trailers loaded with $500,000 worth of liquor from a distribution facility in Jeffersonville, Indiana.  He was convicted in the Western District of Kentucky and sentenced to 23 months in prison. Then, in 2014, while on supervised release for the 2009 offense, Perez-Gonzalez again engaged in a scheme to steal cargo from tractor-trailers, using nearly identical methods as the most recent offense. He was convicted in the Southern District of Indiana and sentenced to 105 months in prison.  

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Indiana State Police, and Kentucky State Police investigated this case. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt presided over the trial and will sentence Perez-Gonzalez at a later date.    

U.S. Attorney Wheeler thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Rinka and Matthew Barloh, who prosecuted this case. 

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the Indiana Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN). 

News article: Southern District of Indiana | Member of Interstate Cargo Theft Conspiracy Found Guilty at Federal Trial | United States Department of Justice