Aspen burglary suspect to be deported

A burglary suspect from last year’s quasi-heist of an Aspen luxury watch store is set to be deported Wednesday. 

The 35-year-old from Chile, whose primary charge was conspiracy to commit second degree burglary of Aspen’s Avi and Co., has been held in an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Aurora since he met his $5,000 cash surety bond in mid-December, according to the 9th judicial deputy district attorney and the Pitkin County court. 

Deputy District Attorney James Stone said he received a notification from ICE that the suspect would be deported if he is not removed from the detention center by the district. 

---

---

“It has been my request that (we) go through what the federal government is deciding to do,” he said in Monday court proceedings. “And the state government, aka the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, is not getting in the way.”

Kathy Goudy, the suspect’s defense attorney, agreed to Stone’s position. 

---

---

But, because the suspect allegedly entered the country illegally, the case would remain open once he’s deported, according to Stone. Acknowledging this, Judge Laura Makar noted that Goudy should continue to represent the suspect if there are further actions in the case, but did not schedule any further court proceedings.

A Department of Homeland Security official said he cannot discuss detainees’ future disposition or ICE plans regarding a detainee, after The Aspen Times emailed ICE asking for reasoning behind the deportation. 

The 35-year-old was originally arrested in Pitkin County after he was suspected to have a hand in the overnight burglary attempt of Avi and Co., spanning between Nov. 10 and Nov. 11. Five masked men were caught on camera tunneling through the walls of Wayan Indonesian restaurant (then being renovated prior to opening) and Forré Fine Art gallery to access a safe in the watch store, containing watches with up to $400,000, according to the case affidavit and an Avi and Co. employee.

After two close calls with Aspen police that night, the men allegedly fled in a rental car, before four men — not five — were pulled over, and apprehended, in the same car the following day in Vail. They were detained in the Pitkin County jail.

The 35-year-old from Chile had his bond lowered from $25,000 to $5,000, deemed less of a flight risk by Makar because he was reportedly the only suspect to have given his real identity.

He also received lesser charges than the other suspects, resulting in the lower original bond amount, with three felony counts of conspiracy to commit second degree burglary, but no actual burglary charges. 

According to the case affidavit, police implicated the 35-year-old in the crimes because he was traveling with the suspects seen in video footage allegedly surveying Forré Fine Art the afternoon before the burglary, and was allegedly wearing shoes that contained the same tread as prints found in the burglary scene.

Additionally, the 35-year-old from Chile was suspected of burglarizing a retail store in Roanoke County, Virginia, last September with one of his co-defendants, a 41-year-old who said he’s from Buenos Aires, according to an email sent from a Virginia police department to local law enforcement in January. 

The 41-year-old and a 34-year-old who said he’s from Peru, received primary charges of second degree burglary because of their suspected involvement in the Avi and Co heist attempt. One of the masked suspects in the burglary footage was wearing the same clothing items as the 41-year-old, who allegedly surveyed the art gallery the afternoon before the burglary; another masked suspect was wearing the same clothes as the 34-year-old, who was pulled over in a traffic stop with construction tools the day before the burglary, according to the affidavit. 

The fourth suspect, who said he’s a 43-year-old from Chile, received a primary charge of conspiracy to commit burglary for allegedly surveying Forré Fine Art the day before the burglary. 

All three received felony charges of attempting to influence a public servant, for allegedly lying to police about their identities. They remain in the Pitkin County jail awaiting further court proceedings.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.