Credit:: Montgomery County District Attorney.
Claudeo Alexander Fuentez-Soto, 26, a Chilean national and member of an organized burglary squad that targeted homes in Abington Township, and other surrounding townships, was sentenced to eight to 17.5 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to seven felony burglary charges, Mainline Media News reported.
He pleaded guilty to seven felony burglary charges in connection with two break-ins in Montgomery County, four in Chester County and one in Delaware County between October and December 2023.
Police made the arrest one day after four individuals believed to be connected to 12 residential burglaries of homes in the Meadowbrook section of Abington Township were arrested. Some of the burglaries dated back to 2021, police said, and were being committed by South American theft groups entering the United States, mostly from Chile and Colombia.
The robberies are part of a growing national trend known as traveling “South American Theft Groups,” according to the article.
Jewelry, coins and family heirlooms were stolen, according to the article.
In court documents, prosecutors alleged Fuentez-Soto and his alleged co-conspirators traveled from Florida to Michigan and Ohio before coming to the Philadelphia region, where they hit seven residences in “smash and grab” style burglaries.
