7 charged in connection with the ‘largest jewelry heist in US history,' prosecutors say

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An elaborate scheme to stalk and rob truck drivers hauling millions of dollars of jewelry and other high-end merchandise has resulted in criminal charges against seven alleged co-conspirators, the Justice Department announced.
A newly-unsealed federal grand jury indictment provides insights into the massive theft of $100 million in gold, gems and jewelry from an armored truck in California in July 2022 — an operation prosecutors called 'the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history.'
The federal charges announced Tuesday include conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment.
According to the indictment, group members spotted a Brinks tractor trailer departing an international jewelry show in San Mateo, California, on July 10, 2022, and followed it south for nearly 300 miles.
When the driver pulled into a truck stop in the remote town of Lebec, about 80 miles north of Los Angeles, the burglars struck, allegedly stealing 24 bags containing the jewelry.
'I've been doing this professionally for 45 years and never have we had anything remotely close to this,' Arnold Duke, head of the International Gem & Jewelry Show, told CNN after the incident.
Sixteen merchants were affected in the theft, which included gemstones, Rolex watches and thousands of loose diamonds, some of which were priced close to $500,000 each wholesale, Duke said. Some custom, one-of-a-kind finished pieces were also stolen from the truck, he added.
Some of the stolen jewelry was recovered when agents executed a search warrant Monday, prosecutors said.
Two of the suspects were scheduled to appear in federal court on Tuesday, the Justice Department said, while a third is imprisoned in Arizona on a state burglary charge. CNN is not naming the seven defendants while attempts to reach their attorneys are being made.
Prosecutors said federal agents examined cell phone data as part of the investigation and noticed five of the suspects deactivated their devices following the heist. Authorities also described the crew as serial thieves who previously targeted other drivers.
In one alleged incident in March 2022, group members distracted a truck driver who stopped at a store in Ontario, California, while the vehicle was robbed of Samsung electronics. In another incident later that month, the group threatened a truck driver with a knife while robbing the vehicle of Apple products, according to prosecutors.
Five of the defendants are also charged with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and interference with commerce by robbery, as well as additional counts of theft from interstate and foreign shipment, the Justice Department announced.
If convicted, those five 'would face statutory maximum sentences of 20 years in federal prison for each robbery charge, and all defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the theft conspiracy charge and 10 years in federal prison for each theft charge,' the Justice Department said.
CNN's Stephanie Elam contributed to this report.