Three Men Convicted Of Federal Charges In Connection To A Series Of Home Burglaries Committed In Maryland & Georgia
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Officials announced that three men have been convicted for conspiracy and for transportation of stolen property taken during a series of burglaries committed in Maryland and Georgia.
Thirty-seven-year-old Demar Brown of Paterson, NJ and Winston-Salem, NC, 37-year-old Jahson Fields of Atlanta and 35-year-old Kamar Beckles of Teaneck, NJ, were all convicted following a 10-day trial.
According to authorities, the trio broke into at least 20 residences in Baltimore County and Georgia and stole at least $850,000 worth of property.
According to evidence, from Nov. 29, 2017 through Jan. 26, 2018, the defendants comitted a series of break-ins in order to steal property, including cash, foreign currency, safes, jewelry, designer purses and clothing, personal electronics, collectibles, personal identity documents, and items of sentimental value.
Authorities said the defendants planned to sell the stolen property out-of-state for cash.
Witnesses stated that the defendant wore masks and gloves during the break-ins and communicated with each other using two-way radios and cell phones. One of them would usually remain in the getaway car. Officials said the trio would also rent hotel rooms in Maryland to store the stolen goods until they were transported out of state.
Brown and Beckles took the property to two residences in Winston-Salem that Brown had access to. The defendants were arrested on Jan. 26, 2018, near two residences that were recently burglarized. Brown was arrested after officers responding to the burglary noticed a dark green Ford Explorer with North Carolina tags traveling slowly down the street.
The car was identical to a vehicle seen in the surveillance video from some of the previous burglaries. 7 After a short vehicle chase, Brown was eventually arrested after trying to flee from the SUV.
Beckles and Fields were arrested after being found in a nearby wooded area -- about a half-mile from one of the burglarized homes.
Officials said at the time of his arrest, Beckles was wearing a distinct jacket with a reflective emblem on the back that was identical to the insignia visible in surveillance video from some of the previous burglaries.
A subsequent search of each defendant turned up hotel key cards and one of the defendants was carrying over $1,000 cash in his sock. Brown also had a breakfast ticket from the hotel matching the key card where law enforcement learned Beckles had rented two rooms in his name.
A search warrant for the rented rooms was executed and the second search of one of the rooms occurred a few of days later. During the search, officials recovered jewelry stolen from a residence on Jan. 25, 2018, property from homes burglarized in Milton, Georgia on Jan. 24, and property from homes burglarized in Baltimore County on Dec. 28, 2017, Dec. 29, 2017, Jan. 9, 2018 and Jan. 10, 2018.
A mask, a pair of gloves, a diamond tester, a scale and a gold testing kit were also recovered. In the second room, they found Fields' license, mail in the name of Beckles and various phones among other things.
On Jan. 27, 2018, officials executed a search warrant on the Ford Explorer driven by Brown the previous day. There, they found various tools and clothing for use in connection with burglaries, including a pry bar, a drill and hole saw, a mallet, three chisels, a reciprocating saw, multiple pairs of gloves, black knit hats, a balaclava style mask, two-way radios and flashlights, among other things.
Officials also found many of the pieces of stolen property during two burglaries the previous day, as well as notes concerning a pawn shop and a jewelry shop in North Carolina.
On Jan. 30, 2018, law enforcement obtained search and seizure warrants for Brown's residences in Winston-Salem. There they found property from three burglaries in Baltimore County including numerous pieces of fine jewelry.
Evidence on the nine phones seized from the defendants, the SUV, and the defendants' hotel rooms showed, among other things, Brown and Beckles photographing many pieces of the jewelry and other items taken during some of the burglaries.
Only some of that stolen property has been recovered and returned to its owners. However, for a few victims, the vast majority of their property has yet to be recovered.
Each defendant faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the conspiracy and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each count of interstate transportation of stolen property or attempted interstate transportation of stolen property.