Long Beach man must pay $2.6 million in restitution for smash-and-grab robbery in Beverly Hills
A federal judge ordered a Long Beach man to pay more than $2.6 million in restitution and sentenced him to six years and eight months in prison Thursday for a smash-and-grab robbery in Beverly Hills.
Jimmy Lee Vernon III, 33, committed the March 2022 heist at a jewelry store in broad daylight with two other accomplices, who have both pleaded guilty to robbery charges in the case, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. On Aug. 1, Vernon pleaded guilty to one federal count interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act).
He and his accomplices, Deshon Bell, 22, and Ladell Tharpe, 39, took off with 20 watches, 19 bracelets, seven pairs of earrings, eight rings and four necklaces — altogether worth nearly $2.7 million, according to prosecutors.
Investigators tracked them down after they left multiple pieces of evidence at the scene including their vehicle, a Kia which had been reported stolen out of Long Beach four days earlier, and Vernon's cellphone, according to federal prosecutors.
"During the robbery, Vernon's cellphone fell out of his sweatpants pocket while he smashed the jewelry store's window, was left behind and later recovered by law enforcement," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a statement Thursday, citing an affidavit previously filed in the case.
Several people witnessed the robbery happen in the middle of the afternoon, with cellphone footage capturing the robbers break the store's glass before running off with the stolen jewelry.
"I see the guys banging on the windows with crowbars and sledgehammers," one of the witnesses, Wesley Aframian, said at the time. He said one of the masked men was carrying away a tray full of watches as he ran from the scene.
Cindy Delaguerra, one of the store's employees, said she called over the owner of the jewelry shop when she heard the sound of glass breaking, thinking it was the sound of gunshots.
"I couldn't believe it. I was sitting there and I just heard, like, a pop," Delaguerra said. "I thought it was a gun, and I started calling for Peter. And I started pressing the alarm, trying to call 911 and I look up and I just see them with sledgehammers — grabbing everything."
In December 2023, Bell pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery and was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison. Tharpe pleaded guilty on Sept. 30 to one count of Hobbs Act robbery and will be sentenced during a hearing on Jan. 6.
The FBI assisted the Beverly Hills Police Department's investigation in the case.
