Federal authorities charged five men with stealing nearly $2 million worth of jewelry during a pair of armed robberies at New York City jewelry stores in broad daylight, U.S. prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Frank DiPietro, Vincent Cerchio, Vincent Spagnuolo, Michael Sellick and Samuel Sore were each charged with conspiracy, robbery and brandishing a firearm in connection with a violent crime for their roles in the apparent heists, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Each suspect faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted for the robberies, the first which occurred on January 3 in Midtown Manhattan and the second in lower Manhattan on May 20, prosecutors said.
New York media reported that the men, most of whom are in their 60s, have reported ties to the Lucchese, Gambino, Luciano and Genovese crime families.
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Prosecutors: Alleged robbers were dressed as construction workers
Prosecutors allege that DiPietro, 65, Sellick, 67, Cerchio, 69, and Spagnuolo, 65, robbed a jewelry store in midtown Manhattan on Jan. 3. DiPietro and Selleck were dressed in bright orange and yellow reflective construction clothes, masks and gloves and armed with guns.
They entered through a deli that’s in the same building as the jewelry store, which is located in a penthouse showroom and run by appointment only, according to the criminal complaint. The store caters to celebrities including pop megastars Beyoncé and Rihanna, WNBC-TV reported.
DiPietro allegedly told a jewelry store employee at gunpoint to “Give it to me,” while Selleck laer said to the store employee, “Turn around and get in the closet,” according to a news release from federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. The suspects allegedly fled with a 73-carat necklace, a six-carat ring and a 17-carat pair of earrings, prosecutors said.
One of the two getaway cars the robbers used had been stolen on the morning of the thefts as the suspects swapped out the vehicle’s license plate, the complaint said. The suspects were “casing” out the store a day before robbing it, the news release said.
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Alleged robbers pull off a second jewelry heist
More than four months later, the suspects pull off a second jewelry store robbery, this time in lower Manhattan, prosecutors allege.
Similar to the first heist, DiPietro and Sellick dressed again as construction workers, entered the jewelry store’s street-level front door. Sellick allegedly pointed a gun at store employees telling them to get on the ground while DiPietro swiped some jewelry, prosecutors say.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a statement that the suspects holding employees at gunpoint showed “a callous disregard for life.”
During the second robbery, the suspects fled in a getaway car driven by Sore, 25, who was also dressed as a construction worker, prosecutors claim. They later switched to another car that was being driven by Spagnuolo.
While acting like construction workers, the suspects “allegedly sought to blend into the busy streets around them before pointing guns at the jewelry stores’ employees and carrying out about $2 million in stolen diamonds and other valuable pieces,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
In between the robberies, authorities began extensive surveillance of the suspects for several weeks before they were taken into custody, according to a criminal complaint.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll said the “brazen, violent robberies” will not be tolerated. “The arrests today should serve as a warning to anyone willing to engage in armed robberies – you will face the consequences,” Driscoll said.
All of the suspects, except Spagnuolo, agreed to be held without bail, the New York Post reported Tuesday. DiPietro’s lawyer, longtime criminal attorney Mathew Mari told the Post that the authorities were so desperate to solve the robberies they rounded up the usual suspects.
“This will be a trial that ends with the government having egg on their face,” Mari said.