Two men accused of working as “fences” for South American burglary crews, including the thieves who broke into NFL superstar Joe Burrow’s Ohio home in December, were arrested Tuesday during raids in New York City and its New Jersey suburbs.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said FBI agents took Dimitriy Nezhinskiy, 43, and Juan Villar, 48, into custody on charges of conspiracy to receive stolen property after the two were charged with selling the stolen goods taken by foreign “burglary tourists” who loot wealthy neighborhoods across the country.
Court documents said the duo ran their fencing scheme from 2020 to 2025 by giving South American theft crews a place to sell the designer watches, handbags and jewelry the thieves swiped when burglarizing swanky homes.
Nezhinskiy, who has past convictions for robbery and larceny, and Villar, who has been convicted of felony document fraud, worked with at least five separate burglary crews throughout the country, according to the filings.
Prosecutors said the defendants would then resell the suspected stolen items out of a pawn shop in Manhattan’s Diamond District. FBI agents raided the shop Tuesday as part of the crackdown on the suspected fencing operation.
“As alleged, the defendants created an illicit market and fueled demand for burglaries by South American theft groups and other crews around the country by purchasing stolen watches, jewelry and other luxury items, and then reselling them in their New York City store,” said John Durham, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“My office will continue to pursue organized groups who engage, enable, or encourage the pillaging of residential homes and businesses that has a corrosive effect on the sense of security in our communities,” the statement concluded.
Prosecutors said Nezhinskiy and Villar are linked to serial burglar Bryan Leandro Herrera Maldonado, who broke into at least 16 homes between 2019 and 2020.
Nezhinskiy also has ties to at least two of the four thieves who ransacked Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s home while he was away on a road game in Dallas.
“Specifically, the member of the crew was in contact with Nezhinsky less than a week prior to the commission of the burglary in Ohio,” court filings said about the defendant’s connection to the break-in Four Chilean nationals — Jordan Francisco Sanchez, 22; Alexander Esteban Huaiquil-Chavez, 24; Bastian Alejandro Morales, 23; and Sergio Andres Cabello, 38 — were indicted in Ohio last month after they were accused of “carrying out a string of burglaries targeting multimillion-dollar homes.”
The New York court documents did not say which Chilean nationals Nezhinskiy had contact with.
On top of Tuesday’s arrests, prosecutors said agents seized suspected stolen property from New Jersey-based storage units belonging to Nezhinskiy.
Inside the storage units were “large quantities of luxury goods and clothing, including high-end handbags, wine, sports memorabilia, jewelry, artwork and power tools consistent with those commonly used in burglaries and opening safes,” prosecutors said.
If convicted of their charges, both men face up to 10 years behind bars.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.