On Wednesday, officials in Ohio announced that three men, believed to be part of a theft group from South America, were charged in connection with a break-in at Joe Burrow’s home, the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals.
The three men, all from Chile, were arrested on state charges in Ohio late last month in connection with the break-in, which was found at the home in Hamilton County on Dec. 9.
Burrow was in Texas, helping the Bengals win 27-20 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Jordan is a country in the Middle East. On Wednesday, a federal grand jury charged Francisco Quiroga Sanchez, 22; Bastian Alejandro Orellana Morales, 23; and Sergio Andres Ortega Cabello, 38. They are accused of moving stolen goods between states and lying about it during a federal probe.
“Our investigation is still active because these people appear to be just the beginning of South American Theft Groups that are committing crimes in our area and beyond,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio.
An FBI document submitted with a criminal complaint on Monday reveals that detectives discovered photos on Cabello’s phone. These photos show stolen items from a burglary and three men posing with another man.
The court papers do not spell out Burrow’s name, but they refer to the victim as “J.B., an NFL player for the Cincinnati Bengals.” It’s common to use initials in a criminal charge.
The date and time of the break-in mentioned in the legal document matches a report from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office that names Burrow. Burrow confirmed that his home was broken into and expressed that he felt violated, especially by the information made public.
“Everyone has heard about what happened.” “I feel like my privacy has been invaded in several ways,” Burrow said on December 11, two days after the break-in. “There’s a lot more out there than I would like to be public and that I want to share.”
A burglary was reported at about 8:14 p.m. on December 9 by a friend of the house who noticed things were messed up and a window was broken, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.
An FBI agent stated in a legal document that over $300,000 worth of luggage, glasses, wristwatches, and jewelry was stolen. This was included in a criminal complaint against three men made on Monday.
A trail camera recorded one person with bags near a home. Nearby license plate readers helped identify a suspicious car, a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas SUV, which was later found abandoned in Florida, according to the FBI agent.
The person who rented the SUV helped the FBI find out that Cabello used a fake ID to hire it. Investigators then recognized Morales from a picture of them in the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Cellphone data led to a motel in Fairborn, Ohio, on Jan. 10, and all three men now nationally charged were pulled over by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, according to the FBI affidavit.
A fourth guy was arrested and is facing state charges. All of them were in the country without permission, having either entered the county illegally or overstayed their visas, the FBI agent wrote.
Federal online court records did not list any lawyers for the three guys who were charged on Wednesday evening.
Two men claimed to be linked to the burglary crew accused in the break-in of Burrow’s home were charged this week in New York with acting as “fences.” A “fencing” business is when people buy and sell stolen items.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn has charged Dimitriy Nezhinskiy and Juan Villar with working together to accept stolen goods.
Nezhinskiy is said to have been in touch with at least two people from the group that broke into a home in Ohio on December 9, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Nezhinskiy and Villar pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
The U.S. attorney’s office announced that Nezhinskiy and Villar ran a pawn shop in Manhattan. Investigators discovered many stolen items at the shop and additional stolen items in storage units in New Jersey.
Prosecutor Michael Maffei said at the men’s court appearance on Wednesday that they were involved in a plan to either sell the stolen items or send them out of the country.
Maffei calculated that the stolen goods in the storage units are worth $1.5 million, and could be valued at $5 million when everything is counted.
Nezhinskiy’s lawyer, Todd Greenberg, told reporters outside the courthouse that he was glad the judge granted bail. However, they still need to arrange liens, so Nezhinskiy is not expected to be released on Wednesday.
“It’s only the start of the case, as you know,” Greenberg said. “We’re eager to see the evidence, and then we’ll move forward with the case.”
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