Diamond District Fence Pleads Guilty in Connection with Large Scale Stolen Property Operation

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Dimitriy Nezhinskiy pleaded guilty to conspiring to receive stolen property that had been transported in interstate commerce. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge William F. Kuntz.  When sentenced, Nezhinskiy faces a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment as well as restitution of approximately $2,500,000, and forfeiture of more than $2,500,000.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD); and Patrick J. Ryder, Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) announced the guilty plea.

“The defendant’s criminal conduct, purchasing items stolen from homes and businesses nationwide, provided a vital market for South American Theft Groups and other criminals to sell the proceeds of their crimes,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “Our Office and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to ensuring that those who facilitate the victimization of people and businesses are brought to justice.”

“For more than five years, Dimitriy Nezhinskiy established a demand for stolen merchandise, which allowed South American Theft Groups to profit from repeated burglaries,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia.  “His purchases perpetuated a ripple of criminality targeting residences and business across the country.  The FBI will never tolerate any individual who provides economic support to other criminal actors to continue their illicit operations in our city.”

“This defendant ran a black-market pipeline, buying stolen luxury goods from organized theft crews that targeted homes and businesses,” said NYPD Commissioner Tisch.  “It was a deliberate operation that helped professional burglars prey on innocent people.  Today's guilty plea sends a clear message: If you profit off stolen property, we will find you and dismantle your operation. I want to thank our detectives and federal partners for their work on this case.”

“Thanks to the hard work of our Detective Division, working closely with our local and federal partners, the residents of Nassau County can rest easy that we have shut down another criminal group that set out to victimize innocent people,” stated Nassau County Police Commissioner Ryder.  “Let this be a message to the South American Theft Groups and anyone who chooses to work with them: our detectives will find you and bring you to justice if you prey on the good people of our County.”

According to court filings and statements the defendant made at today’s guilty plea, between approximately 2020 and 2025, the defendant conspired with his co-defendant, Juan Villar, and others, to receive and purchase stolen property, including jewelry, watches, handbags, and assorted luxury items that had been stolen outside of the state of New York and transported into New York.  Nezhinskiy and Villar regularly served as “fences” for South American Theft Groups, burglary crews based out of South America, who traveled around the United States committing burglaries, typically targeting wealthier neighborhoods or jewelry vendors, and stealing luxury accessories like watches, jewelry, and handbags.  Nezhinskiy and Villar’s operation, which consisted of purchasing stolen property from these crews for cash, provided an essential market for the stolen goods, perpetuating the dangerous criminal activities of the burglary and theft crews composed largely of foreign nationals.

As detailed in court filings and the guilty plea, evidence linked Nezhinskiy and Villar to thefts around the country, including at least two dozen residential or commercial burglaries across the United States between 2019 and 2025.  Additionally, between October 2022 and January 2024, an undercover detective conducted seven controlled sales of purported stolen property, including high-end handbags and luxury accessories, to Nezhinskiy or Villar, or both, at their business location on 47^th Street in Manhattan’s Diamond District.  During these controlled sales, the undercover detective provided the defendants with items that the undercover told the defendants had been stolen, and received cash in exchange for the stolen goods.

Simultaneous with the defendant’s arrest in February 2025, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the location in the Diamond District where Nezhinskiy and Villar operated a pawn shop and seized large quantities of suspected stolen property, including dozens of high-end watches and jewelry.  Law enforcement also recovered large quantities of cash and marijuana.  A search warrant was also executed at storage units belonging to Nezhinskiy in New Jersey where an additional cache of suspected stolen property was found.  From inside Nezhinskiy’s storage units, law enforcement recovered large quantities of luxury goods and clothing, including high-end handbags, wine, sports memorabilia, jewelry, artwork, and power tools consistent with those commonly used in burglaries and opening safes.

On June 16, 2025, Villar pled guilty to conspiring to receive stolen property that had been transported in interstate commerce and is pending sentencing.

The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division and the Office’s General Crimes Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael R. Maffei, Katherine P. Onyshko, and Sean M. Sherman are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendants:

DIMITRIY NEZHINSKIY
Age:  43
North Bergen, New Jersey

JUAN VILLAR
Age:  48
Queens, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 25-CR-40 (WFK)