Robber pleads guilty in $2.7 million heist at Beverly Hills jewelry store

A Long Beach man admitted to his role in a $2.7 million robbery at a Beverly Hills jewelry store, where he smashed open the store's glass display case before taking off with dozens of earrings, necklaces, rings and watches. 

Jimmy Lee Vernon III pleaded guilty to one federal charge of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), confessing in a plea agreement that he used heavy tools to break open the glass case — right in front of store employees in the middle of the afternoon. Prosecutors said he carried out the March 2022 smash-and-grab with two accomplices, one who pleaded guilty and another who is awaiting trial. 

Several people witnessed the robbery, which police said happened around 2 p.m. on a Tuesday.

"I see the guys banging on the windows with crowbars and sledgehammers," said Wesley Aframian, one of the witnesses, adding that he saw one of the masked man carrying away a tray of watches.

In total, the robbers took off with 20 watches, 19 bracelets, seven pairs of earrings, eight rings, four necklaces and a pair of obelisks from the retailer called Luxury Jewels, court documents state.

Video shows them running from the jewelry boutique on South Beverly Drive in broad daylight. At the time, police said they shattered the glass storefront with a sledgehammer. An employee said she thought it was the sound of gunshots as she yelled for the store's owner to come over.

"I couldn't believe it. I was sitting there and I just heard, like, a pop," said Cindy Delaguerra. "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."

Kevin Sedghi, owner of the boutique, told everyone inside to get on the floor because he also thought it was gunshots. He said he was just relieved no one was injured.

"I'm just happy no one's hurt. That's all that matters," Sedghi said. "My employees are like my family. So as long as no one is hurt, it's fine."

Vernon, 32, the other two men and a juvenile not identified because of his age were all arrested six months later.

According to court documents, they had made some crucial mistakes.

For one, according to a prior affidavit, Vernon's cellphone fell out of his pocket while he was smashing the glass display case. So law enforcement officials later found it left behind in the store. And the defendants left a vehicle at the scene, a Kia that had been reported stolen out of Long Beach four days earlier, court documents state.

At the time, Beverly Hills police said the robbers took off in a white Audi.

Then, two days after the heist, one of the other two suspects posted multiple photos to Instagram showing large stacks of cash with a message he wrote praising his "robbery gang," according to court documents.

Vernon faces up to 20 years in prison when he is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 10. Prosecutors said he has remained behind bars since he was arrested in September 2022.

Deshon Bell, his 22-year-old accomplice, pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery this past December. The Long Beach man received a sentence of one year and one day in prison.

Ladell Tharpe, a 39-year-old Long Beach man accused of being their third accomplice, pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 8.

The investigation was carried out by the FBI and the Beverly Hills Police Department.