NORRISTOWN — A New York man is headed to prison for his ties to a South American theft ring responsible for multiple residential break-ins that targeted Asian business owners in multiple counties.
Nicholas Vargas-Duran, 21, of Ozone Park, N.Y., was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 4 to 10 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, burglary and attempted burglary in connection with incidents that occurred between July and October 2024 in Montgomery, Berks, Chester, Delaware, Bucks, Lehigh, Lancaster, Northampton and Cambria counties.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman imposed the sentence as part of a plea agreement.
Vargas-Duran was among 11 men, all Colombian nationals who lived in the area of Queens, N.Y., who were charged in connection with the theft ring last year.
Four others pleaded guilty to identical charges and were sent to prison earlier this year. Several others are still awaiting court action.
The men will likely face federal immigration and deportation proceedings after they serve their sentences.
Prosecutors previously said prison terms were warranted because the members of the theft ring attacked the homeowners’ vulnerabilities. The homeowners were not home during the burglaries.
Nicholas Vargas-Duran (Photo courtesy Montgomery County District Attorney)
The theft ring was responsible for 13 residential burglaries and three attempted burglaries.Vargas-Duran was ordered to share with his co-conspirators in the payment of more than $300,000 in restitution.
The thieves targeted 13 homes in Abington, Horsham, Lower Merion, and Towamencin townships in Montgomery County; in West Goshen and Birmingham townships in Chester County; in Lower Alsace Township in Berks County; in Manheim Township in Lancaster County; in Adams Township, Cambria County; and Bethlehem, Northampton County.
The thieves stole jewelry, cash, designer handbags and other household items.
The three attempted break-ins occurred in Warminster, Bucks County, Allentown, Lehigh County, and Media, Delaware County.
In court documents, detectives alleged the thieves picked their targets “because of the belief that Asian-American business owners keep large amounts of cash inside their homes.” In addition to Montgomery County, the criminal organization has been operating in other states, including New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Ohio, according to detectives.
The group utilized wireless cameras to watch a family’s movements. For example, an Asian homeowner in Allentown “found a box disguised in fake grass near his front door,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Montgomery County Detective Steve Fink and Abington detectives Dan Bullock and Robert Hill Jr.
Detectives said members of the organization would send out advance teams “to deploy remote cameras…which can then be monitored by the crews to determine when the residents leave their home.”
“The members will even travel to the business of the homeowner to make sure they are at their place of business, sometimes even sending a photo of the targets at their business to the other members of the organization,” Fink, Bullock and Hill alleged.
Each member played a role in the organization, either by conducting research and planning, scheduling and providing manpower, vehicles and various instruments of crime, acting as a lookout, conducting surveillance, breaking into homes or selling the stolen proceeds, detectives said.
The members who conducted research and surveillance of the intended targets conducted their roles “with high-quality attention to detail,” according to detectives.
The members utilized various disguises and ruses, including posing as joggers, landscapers or food delivery drivers.
“The results of their planning are similar to the way a professional law enforcement agency would plan an operation, with maps and tactically placed assignments of personnel,” Fink, Bullock and Hill alleged.
More than 100 Asian owned businesses, such as Chinese and Japanese restaurants, nail salons and food markets, were researched by the organization. The owners were then searched through public databases and landowner records.
“This criminal organization focuses on Asian sounding names to further research as potential targets,” detectives alleged.
The crimes were not random, but rather part of a pattern used by a sophisticated burglary ring “that utilized similar techniques, strategies, technologies and personnel for dozens of crimes across several jurisdictions,” Fink, Bullock and Hill wrote in court papers.
