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Randi Barr, 42, of Union County, NJ, was part of a group that worked from a hit list of dozens of homes based on “stereotype and opportunity,” federal authorities said.
Local, state and federal law enforcement authorities who teamed up to smash the ring found notes in the defendants’ cars that had the home addresses of individuals of Asian descent, along with derogatory terms used to describe their ethnicity, an FBI complaint says.
Crew members got those addresses by breaking into the victims’ vehicles at their places of business, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Newark.
They also placed makeshift GPS devices on the vehicles, it says.
The burglars often made their way into the homes through unsecured second-floor windows before seeking out cash, jewelry and guns, according to the FBI.
Authorities smashed the ring after local police interrupted several burglaries in progress.
A major investigation involving dozens of law enforcement agencies was headed by the FBI Newark’s Transnational Organized Crime Task Force, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
Tens of thousands of dollars in stolen United States currency and currency from Asian countries, jewelry, family heirlooms, and other valuables were recovered from Barr’s residences in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the FBI said.
Several people, including Barr, were arrested.
Rather than risk the potential consequences of a federal jury trial, Barr took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property in exchange for leniency.
Barr, of Vauxhall, NJ, must serve just about all of the 50-month sentence handed down on Tuesday, Aug. 15, because there’s no parole in the federal prison system.
U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin also ordered restitution and forfeiture of $127,661.
Sellinger praised the FBI for leading the effort.
Assisting, he said, were the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of State, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service,
Also participating in the takedown were the Union and Middlesex County prosecutor’s offices, the New Jersey State Police, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the NYPD and local police from several jurisdictions, Sellinger said.
These, he said, include police from Bernards Township, Bethlehem Township, Cherry Hill, Cinnaminson, Clark, Colonial Regional, Cranford, Delran, East Brunswick, East Hanover, Eatontown, Elizabeth, Evesham Township, Exeter Township, Fair Lawn, Forks Township, Fort Lee, Franklin Township, Glassboro, Gloucester Township, Hackensack, Haverstraw, Highland Park, Hillside, Hillsborough Township, Howell Township, Jackson, Kenilworth, Lawrence Township, Linden, Lyndhurst, Mahwah, Marlboro Township, Maywood, Middletown, Montgomery County, Montville, Morris Township, Mount Laurel, Mountainside, New Castle County, New Providence, North Brunswick, North Plainfield, Old Bridge, Paramus, Parsippany, Phillipsburg, Piscataway, Pocono Mountain Regional, Pocono Township, Raritan, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Somerville, South Brunswick, South River, South Whitehall Township, Spotswood, Town of Tuxedo, Tinton Falls, Toms River, Township of Ocean, Union, Upper Macungie Township, Wall Township, Warren, Washington Township, Watchung, Westfield, Whitehall Township, and Woodbridge Township
Handling the case for the government are Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dong Joo Lee and Barry O’Connell of Sellinger’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force’s Narcotics Unit in Newark.
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