David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SALIM SAKAL, 55, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 24 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for buying and selling jewelry stolen from mall-based stores and kiosks across the country.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between May 2023 and April 2024, an organized jewelry theft ring of Colombian nationals burglarized jewelry stores and kiosks in malls in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia. The total losses from the burglaries exceed $4.4 million. Members of the conspiracy also cased additional jewelry stores and kiosks in Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Delaware.
Sakal was the co-owner of Ramoun Jewelry, located in Corona, New York, which sold jewelry and gold to retail customers. The business also purchased jewelry and gold from third parties. Sakal conspired with members of the organized jewelry theft ring to receive, store, and sell jewelry stolen from seven burglaries between August 2023 and April 2024. Sakal paid his co-conspirators cash for the stolen merchandise for a fraction of the actual retail amount, and then sold it to others, including those he knew would melt down the gold. Ramoun did not have a valid second-hand dealer license required under the laws and regulations of New York City, and he did not maintain required records, including the identifying information of the sellers, a description of the items purchased, and the date and time of the purchase.
To date, none of the stolen jewelry has been recovered by law enforcement.
Judge Dooley ordered Sakal to pay restitution of $2,471,457, jointly and severally with others convicted in this case.
On January 27, 2026, Sakal pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell and receive stolen goods.
Sakal, who is released on a $1 million bond, is required to report to prison on October 5.
This investigation has been conducted by the FBI New Haven’s Transnational Organized Crime Task Force with the assistance of the Milford (Conn.) Police Department, the Hamilton Township (N.J.) Police Division, the Delaware State Police, the Henrico County (Va.) Police Division, the New York State Police, the New York Police Department, the Pensacola (Fla.) Police Department, the Paterson (N.J.) Police Department, the Mentor (Ohio) Police Department, the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Police Department, the Greece (N.Y.) Police Department, and the Lombard (Ill.) Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Huang.
U.S. Attorney Sullivan thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and FBI Field Offices in New York, Dallas, Miami, and Tampa for their assistance.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement toward identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
HSTF New Haven comprises agents and officers from the FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Labor, and Connecticut State Police, with prosecutions led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Connecticut — U.S. Department of Justice press release.