A Florida man has been found guilty for his role in a string of cargo theft incidents totaling nearly $5 million.
On Wednesday, July 23, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana announced the conviction of Juan D. Perez-Gonzalez. The 51-year-old Gonzalez was found guilty of conspiracy, possession of goods stolen from interstate commerce and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Prosecutors claimed that between December 2021 and May 2023, Perez-Gonzalez and five other co-conspirators carried out at least 14 separate cargo thefts. Court documents showed the group would target tractor-trailers containing “commercially available, high-end electronics” as well as other products.
The crew would surveil distribution centers used by national companies such as Meta, Microsoft, and L Brands. Once a load was targeted, the group would follow the tractor-trailers as they left the lot – stealing the entire truck and trailer when the driver stopped for rest or fuel. The stolen goods were then transported to Miami to be resold.
According to prosecutors, in most instances the group would abandon the stolen truck nearby and hook the trailer to a different semi they operated. The crew would also paint over logos and identifying numbers on the trailers, as well as switch license plates, to avoid being detected by law enforcement.
The following co-conspirators pleaded guilty to their roles in the cargo theft scheme and are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date:
- Carlos Enrique Freire-Pifferrer, 46, of Louisville, Ky.
- Jose Antonio Gomez-Pifferrer, 33, of Louisville, Ky.
- Dalwy De Armas-Rodriguez, 38, of Louisville, Ky.
- Luis Velazquez, 58, of Jacksonville, Fla.
- Richard Alameda, 47, of Florida
This is Perez-Gonzalez’s third federal conviction for cargo theft. In 2009, he stole two semi-trailers loaded with $500,000 worth of liquor from a distribution facility in Jeffersonville, Ind., and was sentenced to 23 months in prison. In 2014, while on supervised release for the 2009 conviction, Perez-Gonzalez was once again convicted and sentenced to 105 months in prison.
Sentencing for Perez-Gonzalez will come later this year. LL
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