Authorities have uncovered a daring beer heist ring involving eight men who are accused of stealing cases of Corona and Modelo Especial worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from distribution centers and rail cars across Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York, seven of the men were apprehended on Wednesday. The alleged ringleader, Jose Cesari, surrendered to federal authorities on Thursday after being on the run, as confirmed by a CBS MoneyWatch spokesperson.
Over the course of July 2022 to March 2024, the men reportedly executed numerous heists by cutting holes in distribution facility fences or breaking locks on rail cars under the cover of night to pilfer pallets of beer, as outlined in an unsealed indictment. Subsequently, they utilized a moving truck to transport the stolen beer to the Bronx, where it was examined and later sold.
"Train heists harken back to the days of the Wild West and gunslingers riding horses, stealing loot from rail cars," FBI special agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said in the statement. "The romanticized image has nothing to do with the modern-day criminals we allege took part in a theft ring in New Jersey, New York, and beyond that targeted railyards and beverage distribution centers."
The arrested men — Kemar Bonitto, Justin Bruno, Miguel Cintron, Antonio Gonzalez, Luis Izquierdo, Wakiem Johnson and Deylin Martinez-Guerrero — were paid hundreds of dollars each night for helping Cesari steal alcohol valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, prosecutors allege.
Cesari, who was allegedly present at all the robberies, often used a police scanner to help keep a watch for authorities, prosecutors claim. Cesari, who made posts on Instagram trying to recruit others to join the ring, also allegedly robbed a railroad car full of beer at gunpoint in Queens, New York, last April, prosecutors claim.
"That dangerous and disruptive conduct — sometimes allegedly accompanied by the threat of violence — has left several beverage distribution and railroad companies ailing," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement on Wednesday.
If convicted, the men, whose ages range from 27 to 40, face between five and 20 years in prison.
Corona, a pale lager owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, began at a brewery in Mexico City in 1922. It's now sold in 180 countries and is one of the top selling beers in the U.S.
Originating nearly a century ago in Mexico, Modelo Especial, a pilsner-style lager, found new ownership when Constellation Brands acquired it from Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2013.
During a social media controversy involving trans rights activist Dylan Mulvaney, sales of the top-selling beer Bud Light took a hit, leading to a surge in Modelo sales last summer. This surge propelled Modelo to briefly claim the title of the nation's top-selling beer brand in the same period.
