Former Hialeah Gardens Cop Charged In $1.9M Laptop Theft

MIAMI - (CBSMiami.com) - A former Hialeah Gardens police officer is one of nine indicted in a $1.9 million theft of thousands of laptop computers.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Tuesday that they had charged 42-year-old Jorge Raul Romero, a 13-year veteran of the Hialeah Gardens Police Department, in an investigation that netted multiple arrests.

Officials say Romero was among those who participated in the theft of 5,250 Toshiba laptop computers valued at $1.9 million. The computers were being shipped from Forest Park, Ga. to Miami in July of 2010.

From July 7th through July 12, 2010, the men allegedly stole the laptops and stored them in warehouses in Hialeah Gardens. The men are accused of selling the stolen laptops for profit. Officials say Romero made misleading statements about the investigation. He was charged with obstructing justice.

The other men arrested with Romero were identified as, Jose S. Garcia, 37, of Miami; Jose Ramon Garcia, 57, of Miami; Ulises Torres Creagh, 36, of Miami; Ramon Concepcion, 31, of Hialeah; Erving Enrique Ortega, 33, of Miami; and Edwin Antonio Ortega, 30, of Miami.

Two others indicted were Alexeis Jimenez-Gonzalez, 42, of Homestead, and Edilberto R. Fernandez, 48, of Hialeah, who remain at large.

All are charged with conspiring to receive and possess goods valued at more than $5,000, conspiring to commit cargo theft of goods valued at $1,000 or more and receiving and possessing stolen goods and committing cargo theft.