CINCINNATI — Three of the men arrested in connection to a burglary at Joe Burrow's home have now been indicted locally, a week after their federal indictment.
During a press conference, Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich said Jordan Francisco Quiroga Sanchez, Bastian Alejandro Orellana Morales and Sergio Andres Ortega Cabello have been charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and second-degree burglary.
Pillich announced the indictment with Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
The three men have already been federally indicted on charges of transporting stolen goods interstate and falsifying records in a federal investigation.
However, Pillich said federal officials are allowing Hamilton County to prosecute the men locally first. Because there's no federal equivalent of a burglary charge, the only way to charge them with burglary for breaking into Burrow's home is at the local level, Pillich said.
There is now an ICE retainer on the men, who will not be released on bond, Pillich said during the press conference.
All three men are from Chile and were in this country illegally after overstaying their visa permissions.
A federal criminal complaint filed in the case says "investigators discovered that nearly $300,000 worth of designer luggage, glasses, wrist watches and jewelry had been stolen from the residence."
An affidavit says an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper on Jan. 10 pulled over a car with Florida tags that committed a lane violation on I-70 after investigators had been conducting surveillance on the occupants. Inside the car, per the affidavit and body camera footage, was an old LSU t-shirt and Bengals hat believed to have been stolen in a Hamilton County burglary on Dec. 9.
Watch video from their arrests here:
All four of the men inside — later identified as 22-year-old Jordan Sanchez, 23-year-old Bastian Morales, 38-year-old Sergio Cabello and 24-year-old Alexander Huaiquil-Chavez — were indicted for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, participating in a criminal gang and possessing criminal tools.
During a search of cell phones found on Morales, Cabello and Sanchez at the time of their arrest, investigators found photos of jewelry "confirmed to be stolen from J.B.'s residence in December of 2024," reads the court document. Forensic investigators also found several other photos, deleted during the OSHP traffic stop, that depicted "the rear of J.B.'s residence," court documents say.
Federal court documents say the burglary at Burrow's home "is consistent with burglaries executed by South American Theft Groups (SATG)." The modus operandi in those cases, federal investigators wrote, involves targeting high-end houses that back up to green spaces, walking trails, golf courses or other undeveloped land that can be used to conceal the suspects' approach to a home.
In those burglaries, court documents say suspects predominantly steal jewelry and designer accessories, while leaving behind other valuable items.
"Many of these cases share similar fact patterns to the burglary described above," reads the court document.
Two other men are charged with running a fencing operation for South American groups that burglarized high-profile athletes, including Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
John J. Durham, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a release Dimitriy Nezhinskiy and Juan Villar were indicted Tuesday after officials said they spent nearly five years selling "stolen luxury items" at their pawn shop in Manhattan's Diamond District after purchasing them from burglary crews.
During a search of Nezhinskiy and Villar's business, law enforcement found dozens of watches and jewelry believed to have been stolen. Inside Nezhinskiy's storage units, officials also found high-end bags, sports memorabilia and power tools used to burglarize or open safes.
Learn more about the break-in below:
The release says the two received and purchased jewelry, handbags and other items stolen outside the state of New York, serving as "fences" for crews out of South America who traveled the U.S. to burglarize wealthy neighborhoods or jewelry vendors. The U.S. Attorney's Office specifically notes phone records and video surveillance link Nezhinskiy with two members of a "four-man burglary crew" believed to be involved in the "Dec. 9, 2024 burglary of a high-profile athlete in Ohio."
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