Source: US FBI
ST. LOUIS – Three men from Florida have admitted stealing jewelry and other valuables worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from homes in St. Louis County, including Ladue and Chesterfield.
Benjamin Andres Ovalle-Taibo, 33, and Jonathan Vejar-Caro, 33, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Ovalle-Taibo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit the transportation of stolen goods and Vejar-Caro to one count of transportation of stolen goods.
Henry Jose Ferreira-Perez, now 21, pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of stolen goods in December and has been sentenced to 14 months in prison.
All three admitted travelling on June 9, 2023, to St. Louis County, where they scouted possible burglary targets and purchased items to use in home break-ins. That evening Ovalle-Taibo and Vejar-Caro stole luxury items worth more than $330,000 from a home in Ladue, including jewelry, handbags and watches. They drove to Illinois and stayed in an Airbnb before returning to Florida to sell the stolen goods.
On June 16, 2023, Ovalle-Taibo and Vejar-Caro burglarized a home in unincorporated St. Louis County which was investigated by the Frontenac Police Department. They stole about $128,000 worth of items, primarily jewelry. They next day, they burglarized two homes in Chesterfield, stealing about $188,500 worth of items from one home and $44,000 from the other.
Ovalle-Taibo and Vejar-Caro are scheduled to be sentenced in October. All three are in the United States illegally and will likely be deported upon their release from prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Ladue Police Department, the Frontenac Police Department and the Chesterfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.