An Ecuadorian man has agreed to plead guilty to a federal robbery charge for his role in the theft of roughly $100 million worth of jewelry from an armoured truck five years ago in California, considered the largest such heist in U.S. history.
Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 32, an Ecuadorean national arrested two years ago in Panama during a layover on a flight from Guatemala to his home country, was one of seven men indicted on charges of robbing a Brink’s truck at a highway rest stop north of Los Angeles on July 11, 2022. Mestanza signed an agreement last week to plead guilty to a single count of interference with commerce by robbery, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, in return for prosecutors dropping several other charges he faced, according to court documents filed on Monday (November 9, 2026). He is expected to formally enter his guilty plea at a hearing set for November 19. The 22-page plea deal states he is likely to face immediate deportation once his sentence is served. Three of Mestanza’s co-defendants are scheduled for trial in March 2027 in federal court in Los Angeles, while two others remain at large and a seventh accused member of their gang has been deported, according to the Los Angeles City News Service.
It was not clear from court documents in the case whether any of the stolen jewelry from the Brink’s heist was ever recovered.
