NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A second person is heading to prison in connection to the theft of millions of designer items from a cargo bay at John. F. Kennedy International Airport last year.
David Lacarriere, 34, was sentenced Monday to up to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty in September to holding more than $2.5 million in Gucci and Chanel merchandise.
The items were part of a heist at JFK back in May 2020, where more than $4 million worth of luxury goods were taken, Queens DA Melinda Katz said.
“Millions of dollars’ worth of designer merchandise was illegally hauled off airport property by a crew of bandits who used forged cargo shipment receipts to gain access to an importer/exporter warehouse,” said Katz. “Keeping our airports in Queens safe and secure is a top priority of my office. Two of the defendants have now been sentenced by the court for their roles in this brazen heist.”
According to the charges, on May 17, 2020, forged docs were used to get access to a cargo facility at JFK, where the thieves made off with the high-end shipment.
Port Authority police said it recovered an abandoned trailer used for the crime 12 days later in Maspeth. All that was found inside was shipping pallets, tags, wrapping materials and display cases.
Police said in order to clear out evidence, the trailer was covered in bleach.
According to the DA’s office, an investigation team used “physical investigative techniques, surveillance as well as GPS and an extensive video canvassing” to track down the two.
The duo, which included Oscar Asencio, 33, of Queens, was tracked to a shuttered beauty salon — Candi World Beauty Bar in Jamaica — believed to be used as a stash house for their stolen items.
Asencio, according to court docs, helped protect the stolen merch in the stash location, and was seen on video carrying bags filled with the goods in and out of the building.
The DA then said on June 3 while observing the apparent sale of some of the stolen items, an investigative team “froze” the location. Lacarriere ran from police and tried hiding inside. A warrant was then executed, and after a search, Lacarriere was found hiding inside a closet.
Also found were “mountains” of boxes stuffed with the goods, still packaged as they were by the designers. Overall, more than 4,000 Gucci and Chanel items were taken in, including purses, sunglasses, clothes, shoes and more, mounting to more than $2.5 million in overall cost.
Lacarriere, of Manhattan, pleaded guilty in September to criminal possession of stolen property before being sentenced to 5.5 to 11 years in prison.
Asencio pleaded guilty in August and faced a slightly lesser sentence from the same judge of 3.5 to 6 years in prison.
Katz added that the investigation found a weakness in the security of the air cargo industry, but in working with Port Authority and the TSA, changes were implemented.
According to prosecutors, Lacarriere was part of a heist of about $800,000 of Prada items in January 2020. He was apparently an ex-truck driver at JFK.
According to the New York Times, Lacarriere pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiring to steal $700,000 worth of luxury items from Newark Liberty Airport.