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The sixth member of a multimillion dollar theft ring that targeted cargo trucks in southern Indiana and surrounding states has been found guilty of several felony charges, according to the Indiana Southern District’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A federal jury found Juan Perez-Gonzalez, 51, of Florida, guilty of conspiracy, possession of goods stolen from interstate commerce, and interstate transportation of stolen property for his role in a year-long conspiracy to steal millions of dollars in high-end electronics and other products from shipping facilities and cargo trucks in southern Indiana and other states.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt presided over the trial and will sentence Perez-Gonzalez at a later date.
Five co-conspirators in this case have entered guilty pleas for their roles in the operation and will be sentenced at later dates.
The co-conspirators are Carlos Enrique Freire-Pifferrer, 46, of Louisville; Jose Antonio Gomez-Pifferrer, 33, of Louisville; Dalwy De Armas-Rodriguez, 38, of Louisville; Luis Velazquez, 58, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Richard Alameda, 47, of Florida.
According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, between December 2021 and May 2023, Perez-Gonzalez and his co-conspirators conspired to steal tractor-trailers containing commercially available, high-end electronics and other items, which they later resold at a discount for profit.
The co-conspirators traveled from various locations, including Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio to target various distribution facilities used by national companies such as Meta, Microsoft, and L Brands.
The group surveilled these facilities and followed semi-tractor trailers as they departed. When a driver stopped to rest, refuel, or park, the conspirators stole the entire tractor-trailer.
In many instances, the group abandoned the stolen tractor nearby and reattached the trailer to a different semi-tractor they operated.
To evade law enforcement, they painted over logos and identifying numbers and use different license plates on the stolen trailers.
They transported the stolen cargo to Miami, Florida, where it was sold to buyers, including co-defendant Richard Alameda, for a fraction of its retail value.
The group carried out at least 14 separate cargo thefts, resulting in the theft of over $2 million in Oculus virtual reality headsets from a Meta facility, $940,000 in Microsoft products, $1 million in Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret merchandise, $669,000 in Harmon-JBL audio products, $180,000 in Logitech products, and $480,000 worth of Bose audio speakers, among other stolen items.
This is Perez-Gonzalez’s third federal conviction for cargo theft.
First, in 2009, he stole two semi-trailers loaded with $500,000 worth of liquor from a distribution facility in Jeffersonville. He was convicted in the Western District of Kentucky and sentenced to 23 months in prison.
Then, in 2014, while on supervised release for the 2009 offense, Perez-Gonzalez again engaged in a scheme to steal cargo from tractor-trailers, using nearly identical methods as the most recent offense. He was convicted in Indiana’s Southern District and sentenced to 105 months in prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Indiana State Police, and Kentucky State Police investigated this case.
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