3rd member of multi-state burglary ring targeting Asian homes pleads guilty
By Bryan Ke
A third man connected to a multi-state burglary crew that targeted Asian business owners’ homes between 2016 and 2019 has pleaded guilty on Monday, authorities announced.
Pleading guilty: Kevin Jackson, 57, of Rahway, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property in his hearing at a federal court in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday as part of a plea deal with the government in exchange for a more lenient sentence. U.S. District Court Judge Evelyn Padin scheduled Jackson’s sentencing for Feb. 13, 2024.
Jackson could potentially face five years in prison for the “conspiracy” charge and a fine of either $250,000 or the amount equivalent to double the value of the stolen items, whichever of the two has the highest sum.
Key details: Jackson was among the eight people arrested in May 2021 as part of a massive operation involving multiple law enforcement agencies headed by the FBI Newark’s Transnational Organized Crime Task Force, some of which included the Port Authority of New York and the Delaware State Police-Troop 2.
The other identified defendants in the case are Rabine Armour, Kevin Burton, Thomas Rodgers, Sherman Glasco, Terrance Black, James Hurt and Randi Barr.
Hurt pleaded guilty to the same charge in September after entering a plea deal, while Barr was sentenced to 50 months in prison as well as ordered to pay $127,661 in restitution and forfeiture in August.
The plea deal: Although Jackson and Hurt struck a plea deal with the government, officials did not reveal if that deal included their cooperation in the prosecution of the five remaining defendants in the case, notably Armour, Burton, Rodgers, Glasco and Black.
All defendants are facing a single count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, while Burton has one additional charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and conspiring with Keesha Davis of Elizabeth, the ninth defendant, to tamper with evidence.
Their crimes: According to court documents, the defendants allegedly orchestrated a series of burglaries targeting the homes of Asian business owners in several states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, from Dec. 2, 2016, to March 20, 2019.
One of Jackson’s crew members reportedly told investigators that they targeted Asians as they believed that they “kept large sums of currency and jewelry in their residences,” the FBI said in the complaint.
The arrest: Law enforcement officers eventually tracked the crew members through a dropped cell phone that led to their arrests. Authorities reportedly found more than $30,000 in cash, jewelry, foreign currency and firearms in the suspects’ homes during the search.
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