Jewel Thief Deported
I seem to be writing a lot about jewelry lately, but this case is insane, and the title is a little misleading (sorry), but it’s about how the US let a notorious thief slip through their fingers.
The Heist
On July 9-10, 2022, seven men scouted out the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo, California. They had their sights set on robbing one of the trucks transporting these items to and from the show. On July 10, the thieves followed a jewelry shipping truck from San Mateo to a rest stop in Buttonwillow, California. Then, on July 11, the driver of the truck stopped again in Lebec, California, to get something to eat.
There was another man in the truck, but he was asleep while the driver went to get a meal, and this is when the thieves struck. They broke into the back of the truck without waking the sleeping man in the front, and stole 24 bags of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and watches, worth around $100 million USD. They were able to pull this off in the 27 minutes that the driver was away from the truck.
The thieves then transported their stolen goods another 115km to East Hollywood. This robbery is thought to be the largest jewelry heist in American history.
The Aftermath
The ensuing investigation was thorough and widespread, even involving Interpol to track down one of the suspected members of the thieves in Panama. Finally, in 2025, seven people were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment. One of these men is Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, an Ecuadorian man living in Los Angeles as a lawful permanent resident. He was facing up to 15 years in jail if convicted and he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In 2026, Flores’ lawyers confirmed that a deal had been reached to let Flores out on bail while awaiting trial, however, Flores was not released. Instead, he was transferred to the custody of ICE.
This whole thing was so disorganized and weirdly secretive that even though there was an ongoing case against Flores, even the assistant US district attorneys didn’t know he had been moved to an immigration detention centre. Flores was then deported back to Ecuador, thereby ending all of the US’s ability to prosecute him.
I’ll say there are a few conflicting reports here about whether the government deported him or whether he just left the country and self-deported but either way, he’s gone.
“[Mr Flores] argues that the government chose to forgo his criminal prosecution. For the undersigned prosecutors who worked countless hours to pursue criminal convictions and sentences in this case … Those prosecutors remain eager to prosecute [the] defendant for his crimes and vindicate his victims” (Cooper, 2026). However, Flores has absolutely no incentive to return to the United States and as he said, he sees this as the US choosing to close the case and forego the trial by deporting him. It’s unlikely he’ll ever be tried in the US and at this point it’s their own fault.
Works Cited
Cooper, Luke. “ICE Deported a Man Charged Over the ‘Largest Jewelery Heist in US History’ Before he Could Face Trial”. ABC News. 2026. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-28/ice-deported-man-charged-over-us-jewellery-heist/106270648
“Immigration Officials Allow Suspect in $100 Million Jewellery Heist to Self-Deport, Avoiding Trial”. NBC News. 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/immigration-officials-allow-suspect-100m-jewelry-heist-self-deport-avo-rcna255356
“7 Suspects Identified in a $100 Million Jewelry Heist Near Los Angeles, Thought to be Largest in US History”. Associated Press. 2025. https://apnews.com/article/jewelry-heist-california-los-angeles-84a42e5f71a3f57682c85ec340f98ba0