Man gets 5 months for $147000 jewelry heist from Navy Exchange in Norfolk - Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK
Austin Ingles and Brandon Monahan went shopping in April at the Navy Exchange in Norfolk. For two or three hours, they perused the jewelry counter in search of Rolex watches, Effy rings and gold necklaces.
But they didn't buy anything, according to court documents. Instead, they returned that night, broke a front window with a rock and walked out with more than $147,000 worth of jewelry.
Ingles was sentenced last week to time served – a little more than five months in jail. Monahan is set to plead guilty Tuesday to one count of theft of government property.
A third man, Austin Underwood, is expected to face federal charges.
Court documents said Ingles and Monahan went to the Navy Exchange during business hours on April 17 and checked out the jewelry counter – which was near the front door.
They returned with Underwood in Ingles' blue Volvo XC90 SUV. The men had removed the vehicle's tags to avoid detection, the documents said.
Using rocks they brought with them, Ingles and Monahan broke the store's front window, went to the jewelry case and smashed it.
In all, they stole seven Rolex watches, 128 pieces of Effy jewelry and 22 other pieces of gold jewelry, documents said. The watches were worth more than $44,000 and the Effy jewelry almost $93,000. The other pieces were worth over $10,000.
After the burglary, the three men drove to Monahan's home in Winston-Salem, N.C., according to court documents. And the following day, they took the watches and jewelry – sans tags – to pawn shops.
Police cracked the case with the help of one of the pawn shop owners, who reported the serial number of a stolen Rolex Oyster Perpetual to authorities. The pawn ticket listed Ingles as the seller, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Norfolk Circuit Court.
During subsequent interviews, Ingles and Monahan confessed to breaking into the store. Ingles also implicated Underwood as their getaway driver, the affidavit said.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alyssa Nichol asked the court Friday to sentence Ingles to one year in jail. Federal guidelines recommended a sentence of at least 10 months.
"The defendant's actions demonstrate a serious disrespect for the law," she said, noting that he grew up in a largely stable household and had a job at the time of the burglary. "Nothing in his personal history explains or excuses his decision to break into the Naval Exchange and commit, essentially, a jewel heist."
Defense attorney J. Darren Byers countered in court documents that his client was a drug addict who is dedicated to turning his life around. He described Ingles as a youthful offender with no criminal record and asked the court for a sentence of time served.
Byers provided the court a detailed post-release plan that his client developed while incarcerated. It included renovating a home owned by his stepfather, taking classes at a North Carolina community college and interviewing for a job at a company that makes rebar.
"He has taken exceptional steps to ensure that he gets his life on track for a successful future," Byers said.
Ingles was ordered to pay more than $148,000 in restitution to the Navy Exchange and four pawn shops.
