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Sekou Fofanah, 20, Shamaire Brown, 19, and Quamaire Brown, 19, each pleaded guilty in federal court in Camden to conspiracy to commit cargo theft, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
All three and a fourth man, Aboudramane Karamoko, had been arrested and released at one time or other since the burglaries began nearly four years ago, records show.
The most recent was last past April, when police dogs in Warwick, RI, helped track down Karamoko and Shamaire Brown, along with a 16-year-old fellow Philadelphian.
Fofanah and Quamaire Brown had been arrested and released following one of the very first break-ins, at a UPS warehouse on Hog Island Road in Philadelphia.
The crew ordinarily worked from late Saturday into Sunday morning, according to a complaint filed by an agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Newark.
The burglars entered through the loading bay, either by breaking a window or prying a door open just far enough for one of them to squeeze through, the complaint says.
Once inside, it says, they searched for parcels carrying “lithium-ion battery” warnings.
That meant cell phones and other electronics were inside.
The crew members used social media group chats and direct messaging to coordinate, communicate and sometimes even share photos of the goods they stole, the Homeland Security complaint notes.
Communication in the “ALL GRIND” group – in which one of the participants referred to the crew as the “Ups boys” -- will no doubt play a significant role in the government’s case.
The warehouses burglarized in New Jersey include UPS facilities in:
- Monroe Township facility in Jamesburg (Middlesex County), where $84,741 worth of electronics was stolen in early June 2022;
- Bridgewater (Somerset County), where $40,100 worth of electronics was stolen a week after the Monroe burglary;
- Lawnside (Camden County), where $23,707 worth of electronics was stolen in June 2021;
- Vineland (Cumberland County), where $17,405 worth of electronics and a Smith and Wesson handgun were stolen a week after the Lawnside break-in.
A photo shared in the group chat following the Monroe burglary shows one of the bandits wearing a mask and holding several Apple product containers, the complaint says.
Also burglarized by the crew was a UPS facility in Rockland County, NY, listed in court papers as "the Clarkstown warehouse." Authorities said $10,200 worth of electronics was stolen from the facility, which is actually on Murray Hill Drive in Nanuet, on Aug. 7, 2022.
The crew also snatched $12,119 worth of electronics from a UPS facility in the upstate New York city of Gloversville, in the Mohawk Valley, on Oct. 17, 2022, the complaint says.
The burglars apparently began to feel the heat after the "Clarkstown" (Nanuet) job.
“Ups getting looked at by the feds,” reads one message in “ALL GRIND.”
“7 robberies in 5 weeks + more,” says another.
K-9 units in Warwick, RI, found Karamoko, Shamaire and the unidentified teen hiding in a nearby garage following the April 2 burglary last year, the complaint says. Shamaire was carrying a box cutter, two lock picks and a black ski mask, it says.
A backpack filled with $32,000 worth of electronics had been left just outside the warehouse.
The three individuals eventually were released only to be snatched up again over the following week or so.
Three of them took deals from the government rather than risk the consequences of potential guilty verdicts at trials. Charges against Karamoko are still pending.
Sellinger credited special agents of HSI Newark with the investigation leading to the charges.
He also acknowledged the assistance of several law enforcement partners:
- HSI Philadelphia and HSI New England;
- New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania State Police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol;
- Summit County (NJ) Prosecutor’s Office;
- Centre County (PA) District Attorney’s Office;
- Fulton County (NY) Sheriff’s Office;
- Local police from Philadelphia, Taylor and State College (PA), Brookfield, South Brunswick (NJ), Clarkstown (NY), Warwick (RI) and Livonia (MI).
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