PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Chilean national who participated in a burglary ring that targeted the homes of families of Asian descent in at least eight states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island, will serve time in federal prison and has been ordered deported, the U.S. Attorney said.
Yoel Andres Barrera Garrido, 21, was sentenced in federal court in Rhode Island to serve 12 months in prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Sara Miron Bloom said in a statement.
Barrera Garrido was arrested on March 12, 2024, and ordered detained in federal custody.
He pleaded guilty on November 20, 2024 to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and two counts of attempt to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, Bloom said.
U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose handed down his sentence and ordered that Barrera Garrido be removed from the United States.
Barrera Garrido came to the United States in 2022 and overstayed a tourist visa, prosecutors said.
He previously admitted to a federal judge that he was a member of a conspiracy that collectively surveilled people, typically of Asian descent, at the victims’ residences and businesses, Bloom said.
Barrera Garrido then “executed well-planned burglaries” at the victims’ homes in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Wisconsin, and Florida.
The thieves typically targeted homes where large sums of money, jewelry, credit and debit cards, and other valuable items might be found, prosecutors said.
Barrera Garrido admitted to the court that he participated in two burglaries in Rhode Island and one burglary in Goram, New Hampshire, and in West Allis, Wisconsin, Bloom said.
In April 2024, four other Rhode Island men were arrested in connection with an organized theft ring that targeted people of South Asian descent in some of the most affluent communities in Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts, the break-ins occurred in several communities, including Billerica, Boxborough, Carlisle, Easton, Hopkinton, Lincoln, Weston, Sudbury, Andover, Bellingham, Boxford, Franklin, Hudson, Littleton, Medway, Middleton, Millis, North Attleboro, Norwell, Pembroke, Seekonk, Sharon, Southborough, Wenham, and Westwood between July 21, 2018 and March 30, 2024, prosecutors said last year.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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