A pawn shop owner in New York City pleaded guilty to serving as a fence for luxury goods stolen from people’s homes. Per the Associated Press, that includes the home of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
Dimitriy Nezhinskiy pleaded on a federal charge of conspiring to receive stolen property that had been transported in interstate commerce. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, plus restitution of approximately $2,500,000, and forfeiture of more than $2,500,000.
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Per the AP, he said in court that his business was mostly legal:
“I am very sorry for my actions,” the 44-year-old New Jersey resident said in Brooklyn federal court. “Most of my business was completely legitimate, and it was a good business.”
Burrow’s house was burglarized last December while he was leading the Bengals in a win over the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football,” part of a string of burglaries involving the homes of professional athletes. A group of seven Chilean nationals were later arrested and charged for the theft.
The experience left Burrow unwilling to go through with the purchase of a Batmobile. He also has pondered moving houses, citing a breach in privacy.
Authorities accused Nezhinskiy and his co-defendant Juan Villar of knowingly purchasing stolen property, which included jewelry, watches, handbags and assorted luxury items from outside the state of New York, acquired from burglary crews traveling around the U.S. and targeting the homes of the wealthy.
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An undercover detective reportedly conducted seven controlled sales of purported stolen property to Nezhinskiy or Villar at their shop, explicitly telling them they were stolen before executing the sale. A raid at the pawn shop and Nezhinskiy’s storage units also yielded large quantities of suspected stolen property, including high-end handbags, wine, sports memorabilia, jewelry, artwork, and power tools, the latter of which could be used in burglaries.
From the DOJ:
“This defendant ran a black-market pipeline, buying stolen luxury goods from organized theft crews that targeted homes and businesses,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “It was a deliberate operation that helped professional burglars prey on innocent people. Today’s guilty plea sends a clear message: If you profit off stolen property, we will find you and dismantle your operation. I want to thank our detectives and federal partners for their work on this case.”
Villar reportedly pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to receive stolen property that had been transported in interstate commerce.
