30-year-old New York man Victor Rivera has pleaded guilty of stealing Richard Mille, Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Patek Philippe watches worth $2.5 million from jewelers in the city. Rivera pleaded guilty to “11 robbery and attempted robbery charges” between October 2019 and November 2020m IDEX Online reports.
In some of the robberies, Rivera and a co-conspirator threatened their victims with a gun. One man was even shot during a robbery in Brooklyn in June 2020. During that robbery, a $148,000 Richard Mille watch worth over $148,000 was stolen.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As he has now admitted, Victor Rivera committed a year-long spree of armed robberies and attempted robberies of jewelers and other owners of luxury watches, threatening his victims with guns and, during the course of one robbery, shooting a victim. Now Rivera awaits sentencing for this terrifying conduct.”
Rivera is due to be sentenced in April.
