Man sentenced to 3.5 years for role in nationwide jewelry ring that hit Milford mall
A man was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison on Thursday for his involvement in a nationwide organized jewelry theft ring that targeted the Connecticut Post Mall, the Department of Justice said.
From May 2023 to April 2024, 45-year-old Edixon Rincon Puentes, a Colombian citizen who last lived in Los Angeles, Calif., and several others, stole from jewelry stores and kiosks in Connecticut and other states, then transported the stolen items across state lines, according to the DOJ.
Rincon Puentes was primarily the “lookout and driver” while the people he was with robbed jewelry stores at the Connecticut Post Mall in Milford. They hit the mall on Oct. 5, 2023, the DOJ said.
He was also involved in robberies in New Jersey and Virginia. The other members of the ring also stole from jewelry establishments in Ohio, Indiana, New York, and Illinois, according to the DOJ.
The total value of the stolen items was more than $4.4 million. The robberies Rincon Puentes was involved in totaled $938,148 in stolen items, the DOJ said.
Rincon Puentes was arrested in July 2024 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy in November 2024.
None of the stolen jewelry has been recovered. Investigators found most of it was sold to the owner of a jewelry store in Queens, New York, who then sold it to others who would melt down the gold, according to the DOJ.
Many of the other members of the ring were sentenced to various terms in prison in late 2025.
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