LOS ANGELES – A Long Beach man pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge for participating in the daylight smash-and-grab robbery of a Beverly Hills jewelry store in 2022. More than $2.6 million in merchandise was stolen.
Ladell Tharpe, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
According to his plea agreement, on March 23, 2022, Tharpe, Deshon Bell, 22, of Long Beach, and Jimmy Lee Vernon III, 33, also of Long Beach, and other co-conspirators robbed a luxury jewelry store in Beverly Hills. Before, during, and after the robbery, Tharpe led the cars used to transport the robbers and the getaway vehicle to the location. Bell was one of the getaway drivers. Tharpe conducted surveillance and acted as the lookout for the co-conspirators.
Once they had arrived outside the jewelry store, some of the robbers – including Vernon – got out of one of the cars, entered the store and used heavy tools to smash the store’s display cases while employees and customers were present.
The thieves removed from the store’s display cases at least 19 bracelets, seven pairs of earrings, four necklaces, a pair of obelisks, eight rings, and 20 watches, all of which was valued at approximately $2,674,600. The robbers then returned to the car in which Bell was waiting and then fled the scene.
Tharpe posted images of large amounts of cash on Instagram after the robbery with the text “Robbery Gang.”
United States District Judge George H. Wu scheduled a January 6, 2025, sentencing hearing for Tharpe, who will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Tharpe has been in federal custody since March 2023.
Bell and Vernon each have pleaded guilty to one count of Hobbs Act robbery. Judge Wu on February 26 sentenced Bell to one year and one day in federal prison and ordered him to pay $2,674,600 in restitution. The sentencing hearing for Vernon, who has been in federal custody since September 2022, is scheduled for December 5.
The FBI and the Beverly Hills Police Department investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin J. Butler of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and Kevin B. Reidy of the Major Frauds Section are prosecuting this case.
