Ringleader of migrant moped crooks who preyed on NYC is sentenced and case helped uncover gun conspiracy: DA
The former fugitive ringleader of an interstate crew of migrant moped crooks who robbed at least 25 people in the Big Apple was finally hit with a state prison sentence Tuesday.Victor Parra, 31, who was the subject of a three-month manhunt last year, pleaded guilty to grand larceny charges for orchestrating the snatch-and-run thefts of phones and was sentenced to two to six years in state prison, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.“This ring snatched more than two dozen cell phones in Manhattan, and now its ringleader is being held accountable,” Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said in a statement.“This investigation also led us to a larger alleged gun trafficking conspiracy that involves four defendants selling illegal firearms.”According to prosecutors, Parra — r — sent his migrant gang out on mopeds to snatch phones from a Bronx apartment, then would pay for them and use them to steal money from the victims’ bank accounts.The thefts began on Dec.
22, 2023, when migrants grabbed a phone at West 24th Street and Sixth Avenue and used it to steal $1,742 and $1,630 in two mobile phone transactions, prosecutors said.In another moped heist on Jan.5, 2024, Parra’s crew snatched another phone on Third Avenue and made $1,500 in illegal transactions, the DA’s office said.
The Post reported last year that Parra and his cohorts made frequent trips to Florida to sell the stolen goods, which were fenced through a Texas company owned by a crooked Venezuelan couple.According to sources, the moped crews also pulled off armed robberies at city retailers.Parra, a Venezuelan immigrant, got away when cops moved in on his Bronx headquarters last year, and hid out in Chicago and Miami for three months before sneaking back into the Big Apple — where he was finally nabbed on a helmet violation, according to the sources.The investigation into Parra’s crew led to a major gun conspiracy case last month linked to the violent Venezuelan street g...