A Southern California man admitted last Tuesday to stealing nearly $2 million in jewelry, clothing and accessories from guests at a Beverly Hills hotel and then traveling to Florida and selling the stolen goods, according to information provided by prosecutors. federal.
Jobson Marangoni De Castro, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
According to court documents, the two victims, both residents of Brazil, traveled together to Beverly Hills in May 2023 to attend a fashion event scheduled several days after their arrival. On the night of May 10, 2023, De Castro traveled by Uber to the victims' hotel, tricked a hotel employee into giving him the key to the victims' room, and, while the victims were eating dinner, stole six suitcases from the room.
The suitcases contained jewelry, clothing and accessories worth approximately $1.8 million, prosecutors say. The victims later returned to their hotel room and discovered their suitcases were missing. Hotel staff then notified authorities about the theft.
After the robbery, De Castro traveled to Miami and, on May 17, 2023, communicated with a buyer through Instagram under the identity of "Jobs Marangoni." De Castro told the buyer that he wanted to sell jewelry—a diamond necklace and a luxury watch—but that he did not have the documents to do so because he had found them in a box that belonged to his late mother.
The jewelry evidently matched the description of those stolen in Beverly Hills a few days earlier. The next day, the buyer transferred $50,000 for them to De Castro, and he himself took them to the buyer's store in Miami.
Federal District Judge Hernán D. Vera scheduled an evidentiary hearing on April 30 for De Castro to determine the amount of the loss. Additionally, a sentencing hearing is expected in the coming months. So far, the defendant has been in federal custody since August 2023.
